Max - Freelance Policeman
by Chain123
Summary: "Wait, where's the past me?", "Oh yeah, about that; we were on a case and you got turned into a gaint monster with electromagnetic powers, so I kinda had to blow you up". In another time, in another New York, Max has just killed his partner turned monster, Sam. But before he remembers he has time machine there's still work coming into the office. Lilo & Stitch characters used.
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

Tick tick tick tick….

Max sat alone in an empty hallway, the only sound his own foot tapping rhythmically and that of the clock opposite him.

"This can only end one way. You do know that, don't you?"

Tick tick tick tick….

Next to the grandfather clock, still counting the seconds, was a single door with a plaque above it saying 'Dr Philip H Jakes, Practising Psychologist'.

"I am not a patient person. I have limits. And you are pushing those limits, one tick at a time."

Tick tick tick tick….

Max was sure the ticks were getting more sarcastic.

".. OK, I don't care if you are inanimate…. you remind me of anymore seconds I'm stuck waiting here, alone, with one of your ****ing ticks…"

…tick

"Right!" Max got out of his chair, marched over to the grandfather clock and pointed his luger at pendulum. "I gave you 3 warnings, 3 more than most people get! But you wouldn't-"

Just as Max was reaching his climax, the door next to the grandfather clock opened, revealing a short, balding middle aged man. He turned, apparently following the sound of shouting and an expression of mild shock showed as he looked over to Max, standing there with his gun held threateningly at the antique time keeper.

Max looked back at the man and guessed the scene probably wasn't painting him in a very good light. He knew he didn't look stable at the best of times. The typical self-constructed image he wore was one he had spent many years perfecting. He found if he expressed the right mix of cheerfulness, sadistic intent and barely controlled rage, that many law breaking individuals would break down and desperately confess (even to things they hadn't done), if only to make him stop smiling at them.

Now however Max did not look like his usual hyper active self. His white fur was matted in places, one of his ears seemed to be crooked, he had bags he could use for pockets under his eyes and his gun hand was noticeably shaking.

An awkward silence fell over the room as Max and the man stared at one another with Max still keeping the gun pointed at the swinging pendulum.

"… Um… Are you Doctor Jakes?"

The man just nodded.

"…The guy who's supposed to give me my psych evaluation… so I can keep getting freelance work from the police?"

The man nodded again, his eyes focused notably on Max's shaking gun.

"…Ok." There was another noticeable pause "…despite what you may be thinking, I'm not crazy". Max put away his gun as he stepped back from the clock. "And he started it"

Doctor Jakes raised an eyebrow at this. "As first impressions go, this certainly is a memorable one" With that the doctor went back into his office. Max wondered if he should follow him or consider this a lost cause before he heard from the other room "If you are done threatening my Rosewood, you can come in now"

Max hesitantly walked into the room. As he closed the door and looked around, he found pretty much what he expected. Book cases filled with leather bound works, on subjects that had long titles which held no interest to him, the typical leather chair and couch for the doctor and his patient, a large well-kept desk and… wait.

"A kitchen?" Max asked as his gaze passed over what was obviously a studio style kitchen, with marble counters, long legged steel chairs, an oven, a large fridge… "You live here?"

"Yes", Doctor Jakes answered as he went to his desk to pick up a brown folder, which he started leafing through. "When all you need to work is some furniture and a plaque over your door, working out of your home is just too practical in this city…. No commute" he said with a grin.

"We do the same back..." Max paused and awkwardly corrected himself "'I' do the same back at the office. Fold out beds from the wall".

"Very noir 1950's detective" Doctor Jakes said, grinning wider. He stopped his brief reading of the file and walked over to Max "Ok, let's start fresh and get introductions out of the way. I am Doctor Philip Jakes. You can call me Doctor, Philip or Jakes. Though I would prefer Philip" He finished this by offer his hand.

Max looked over Doctor Philip Drakes properly. He was balding, despite looking in his mid-30s. He wore a plain white shirt and simple blue jeans. The only distinct feature he had was a short scruffy ginger beard. He stood relaxed and didn't seem to be bothered by Max's earlier outburst.

Max took the offered hand, trying not to embarrass himself any further "Ok, I'm Max. Just Max. No last name, at least none I am aware of… So we OK to just forget that scene in the hallway?" Max asked, giving his best nice guy/sane guy smile.

"Oh. Oh goodness no" Philip replied jovially, before turning away and walking over to his desk again. "You've already failed your competency evaluation."

"What?" Max asked in a dull tone, all his good humour dropped.

"You had an argument with my clock… which involved a gun." Philip said whilst reading Max's file again, as if that explained everything. The look Max gave him did seem to make him pause "Look, an evaluation like the one you need to take is like a practical driving test. If you make one single mistake early on, no matter how well you do afterwards, you still get the fail. And one look at you and the behaviour you just displayed…" Philip shrugged. "Only difference is, I am willing to be honest with you and tell you from the start."

Max found the rage building up holt before it too drained away. He couldn't hate the guy for being straight with him…. Well he could. He was good at hating without justification, but he wasn't in the mood today. "Ok then. Good session. I'm tired so I'm going to head off if-"

"Max" Philip said quickly, cutting Max off. "I'm not going to say you are fit for duty. At least not after one session. But why don't we see how this session goes. If you think you got anything out of it, we will schedule another one. If not, I won't report that you are UN-fit for duty."

Max groaned a little before nodding. He could waste an hour and maybe try another psychiatrist... Maybe one he could just pay to get the psych eval.

Philip, taking that as a yes continued "Ok, take a chair" He said, pointing not at the comfy leather couch or chair, but the metal stools in the kitchen area "Fancy a tea or coffee?"

Max generally didn't go for stimulants. His usual hyper active metabolism, if fed enough junk food, could keep him bouncing around the city from dusk to dawn to dusk again. However, a sever lack of sleep and eating nothing but jerky and cigarettes for the last couple weeks had left him drained. "Um, Coffee. Black with sugar"

Philip nodded as he went over to a counter. A silence descended as Max walked forward and looked over the office again. The room was actually rather nice. The office was traditional, with old wood and old brown leather. But the kitchen was quite modern, with a black marble counter, cupboards and draws all coloured a reflective jet black.

"Caffeine." Philip said suddenly, his back turned to Max. "I am not a fan of drugs in most cases. Even in my profession, I try to avoid prescribing anything to my patients unless I believe there is no better option" He turned back to Max grinning again. "But Caffeine. That's an exception. THE exception really"

Philip began taking cups from a cupboard whilst his kettle began to boil. He continued "In controlled amounts, for instance a cup of coffee a day, caffeine can reduce fatigue, increase concentration, can even reduce the chance of contracting various diseases. It offers no noticeable medical concerns…"

Max found the sudden subject strange to just bring up the way he did. Maybe this was to be put him at ease, with an irrelevant topic. It didn't work.

As Philip continued his sudden and unexpected dialog, Max jumped up into the metal stool whilst he looked to his right.

Passed a set of balcony doors was another door leading to what appeared to be Doctor Jakes' bedroom. The bedroom, unlike the rest of the office/apartment, was messy, with papers, clothes and shoes thrown over the edge of the bed, bed stand and window sill. This somehow cheered Max up, seeing some basic disorder in the doctor.

Philip looked over to Max as he took out a French Press and grinned embarrassingly. "Oops. Didn't mean to leave that open" He said before walking over and shutting it. He quickly went back to the kettle.

"Ok then. Where should we start. Where should we start" Philip murmured as if to himself, as he poured the water.

"You're the shrink" Max said. "You tell me"

"I'm not a fan of that term, but never mind about that." Philip said dismissively. "So, I imagine the most obvious place would be the… um… Incident" Philip continued as he finished setting up the press and turned back to Max, sitting opposite him.

Max didn't hide his discomfort. He knew he would have to talk about it. The incident. The series of events, starting with Sam gaining weird powers to, and ending with, Max having to kill his now former partner and friend. He still hadn't spoken about it to anyone else. The idea of laying it all out in front of a stranger didn't fill Max with joy.

Before Max could say anything though, Philip just shook his head. "hmm, no. No we can leave that for the moment. I would prefer if we started just afterwards."

"Afterwards? Nothing really interesting happened after all…. 'that' happened." Max replied.

Philip just shrugged. "I'm not after interesting. I'm after stability. It's been 3 weeks since, as you put it, 'that' happened. I want to know how you have been handling things. I know for instance that you are still receiving and working on private jobs. Tell me about them"

Max visibly grimaced. "Umm yeah, not really much to tell… works been coming in, but…" Max just let the sentence hang. He hadn't expected to be asked about his current work and wasn't too sure how to describe how crap things had turned.

Philip let the silence go on and just nodded before going back to the French press and pushing down the plunger. As the filter descended, Philip just said "Max, as you know, our mutual friend Flint was the one who contacted me and informed me of you need for an evaluation. He also mentioned, briefly, that you have been" Philip paused as he poured the coffee. "How should I put it… Struggling in your solo work. At least that's his impression."

Max suddenly felt annoyed. That Flint had been talking about him like that behind his back was bad enough. The fact he was insulting him…

As if reading his thoughts Philip continued. "His words were not unkind, nor a comment on your skills and abilities in crime investigation. Just the words of a very concerned friend".

Philips retook his seat opposite Max as he put a cup of steaming coffee in front of him. "So let's start again from square one. You've received a call from a client, I assume. What happened next."

Max took the cup in one hand and sighed. "Ok… I'm in my apartment. Flint has just left to get some take out… I pass the time with a game" _Of Russian Roulette_ , Max thought to himself bitterly. "I'm just about to… 'win' I guess, when the phone rings."


	2. Context

**Context Summary**

Though I have given a summary of the story, I thought I would give some more detail just so anyone who fancies going through this thing knows roughly what's going on.

Okay, this story is set in parallel to the game Devil's Playhouse. For those who don't know (so SPOILER WARNING) the final episode of that game has Sam see Max die after turning into a giant Cthulhu monster thing and taking a missile to the face. In the very final scene an alternative time line Max appears before Sam in the Time Elevator, telling him his Sam also just so happened to turn into a giant monster, forcing Max to blow him up (wow, what are the odds?)

... summarizing the end of The Devil's Playhouse feels weirder then I thought it'd be.

Anyway, the short summary is that this story is based on that version of Max. He has already blown up his time-lines Sam but before he decides to pop in his Time Machine (initially remembering he even has it), he has to try and handle the loss of his partner and go at his crime solving solo. So for my perspective, I wanted to write a story of Max handling his Freelance Police work, but alone.

However, to be a little more annoying, and where I know I will lose even more people who clicked on this, this isn't just a fanfiction of that game.

This is a fan fiction of another fan fiction- WAIT, don't go! Just hear (read) me out.

I read through a fanfiction story by the name "Sam Dies at the End". A story done half in text and half in comic strips. This story handles Sam and Max going through their version of the Devil's Playhouse, where Sam gets the weird powers and Max has to deal with all the weirdness, leading up to Sam's death.

I would heartily recommend this take on the crime fighting duo, crfh-maritza on DeviantArt - Sam Dies at the End fanfic

This story is complete and, in my opinion, worth a read. But I am not saying you have to read a whole other story just to read through this one. This is just context. And it's hardly a spoiler to Maritza's story, since the end it is kind of in the title.

I do hope anyone who gives this story a go enjoys it. It's still being written but it's nearly done. Just a few more chapters to finish off.


	3. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Hello"

"Um, hello? Is this the…" There came the sound of rustling from the other line "…The Freelance Police? I was told to speak to Sam"

"Uh no. He's … not here. He's out".

"Well maybe you could help or leave a message. I have a problem in my neighbourhood with a gang of hoodlums, who have been vandalising mine and my neighbours apartments."

Max looked curiously back at the receiver. 'hoodlums'? He looked down at the phone and saw the area code. It was a New York City number. Had this lady not seen the giant monster terrorising the streets earlier today? And she wanted to get someone to deal with some… what? Punks guilty of graffiti?

Max however was not in a good place right at that second. Though the idea of pulling the trigger of Sam's old magnum one more time was not as tempting as it had been a second ago, the idea of just finding some good old New York criminals and beating the living **** out of them did sound appealing.

"Well. Yeah. We do that? I guess. Yeah, where?" Just as he heard the lady call out the first line of her address, he fumbled with the draws to Sam's desk. "Wait, I need to write that down."

Max quickly wrote in his chicken scratch hand writing the building and street name. "Okay"

"So do I need to book an appointment to come to your office to give you the details?"

"No, I'm on my way" and with that Max put down the phone. He was just leaving the office when he paused. Max was not generally one to go into introspection. He didn't think too deeply about how he acted or felt most of the time. But now, standing there, thinking about everything that had happened to him that day and how he really felt right now… he knew he might not really be after a punch up with a couple 'hoodlums' as the lady put it.

With that, Max went back into the apartment, went over to the desk… and picked up his gun.

It took no more than an hour to reach the apartment complex and for Max to see what his client had meant. He only had to walk up 3 flights before he noticed the hallways he passed seemed to have garbage thrown over the floor, spay-paint applied to the doors and walls, even some areas where someone had obviously been sick the night before. All of it struck Max as being intentional.

When he reached the door number his client gave, he knocked and waited. He wasn't in the mood for long exposition about how his clients live had been made unbearable by some stupid kids hell bent causing trouble. So when the lady he spoke to on the phone answered the door, he just asked who she thought had caused the vandalism and where she believed they were. He didn't even bother to question on things like evidence or motives. He wasn't in the mood. Max just wanted to hurt someone.

Leaving just as the lady was talk about payment, Max turned to the stairs and climbed another flight. He didn't see this a being a difficult job. His client had given the exact door number of the gang responsible and they were apparently notorious in the area for getting into the building late and drunk most nights, causing trouble for the residents.

No more than a minute later, Max stood outside the single door in a particularly messy corridor with no graffiti on it. He wasn't grinning manically, like he usually would before starting a fight with people he didn't know. He wasn't even anticipating the fight he would inevitably start. Him taking he call, coming all the way here, despite all that had happened earlier in the day... despite what he original thought when he took the call, now standing there, he was just acting on automatic.

He thought about knocking before he noticed the door had been propped open slightly. Max carefully opened the door and stepped into the room. He thought distantly that the guys need not have bothered keeping their door clear of any rubbish and graffiti. Though the hallways all bore the signs of intentional vandalism, all the rubbish obviously tipped and thrown out of the bins on each floor, the room showed the obvious signs of neglect and disorder. Wrappers and takeaway containers lay haphazardly around the room, along with unwashed clothes and bottles. Whilst scanning the room Max spotted 3 sleeping forms inside the main living space. One lay on the floor, another on a couch and the third had somehow managed to sleep standing up, propped up against the apartment's fridge.

Max didn't go in guns blazing. He carefully stepped inside, checked the other rooms whilst remaining careful not to disturb the sleeping residents and finally returned to the main room once done. These were the guys his client had complained about and there were no signs that anyone else was living here.

Max walked forward and tapped the guy sleeping on the couch on the head. When he didn't stir, he knocked on his forehead with his knuckles, as if he were knocking on a door. That got the guys attention.

"Wha? What's going-" The guy looked around and instantly locked eyes with Max. "Urgh, what the hell? How did you get in here?" He asked as he removed his blanket and stood up.

Max looked on as the guy got up and realised just how young he was. It wasn't obvious with the 3 of them wrapped up but now that they were all waking and standing up, he could see they were probably no older than 16. Students, Max guessed.

"The door was open. I let myself in" Max replied. His voice was devoid of its usual bouncy energy. Like his mood, it was flat and uncaring. "A complaint has been lodged against you 3 for acts of vandalism, harassment and, most importantly, wasting my time."

The leader, Max guessed, just smiled at this, giving looks to his three friends. Max noticed one walk over to the door and lock it before returning. All three stood in a loose ring around Max trying to look threatening. Even in the dark mood Max was in, this nearly made him smile. Master assassins, Cults of mad sorcerers, Dark gods and these three piss-ants. On the list of dangerous things Max had seen today, these three standing around him, trying to intimidating just seemed comical.

"Did you hear that lads? This little Bunny-"

"Rabbit." Max corrected dismissively.

"Rabbit" The lead of the crew amended, still grinning widely "Wants to issue us a warning. Do you know who you're messing with, shorty?"

Only youthful bravado could make someone say something so stupid, Max thought irritably. Even now, in front of these kids, his mood to get into a fight, to... well feel in control of something after a day of chaos, was waning. Max was honestly close to just leaving, client and these morons be damned, when suddenly…

"Oy, Chris! I just got a video sent from Mike. Look, it's that thing from last night!"

Max turned to the kid who had locked the door on him, who now had his phone out apparently watching some video.

The apparent leader Chris walked over, passed Max and looked at the mobile. "Holy **** Harry, that thing was real?!"

Out of curiosity Max walked over and grabbed the phone, not caring about the looks of anger the 3 teenagers gave him. He looked on the screen and saw...

Sam. Well, Sam as he had been no more than a few hours ago. A giant eldritch monster terrorising the city. The picture was of him looming over a restaurant, his giant green tentacle like hand raking one side to rubble.

"You saw him then?" Max asked.

"Him? Err, yeah. Last night when we were out, we made a turn on 59th street and suddenly-" Chris made a wide gesture with his hands. "This big ba****d just walked out, taking up the WHOLE street! It was mental."

"Yeah. When we ran away and got home, we all thought it was a holluus... holusinimation"

"Hallucination" Max corrected distractedly whilst he was flicking through the images that this guy's friends had been collecting and forwarding.

"God, remember when we nearly got home and saw the thing blow up? That was so cool!"

CRACK

"Yeah. One moment this Godzilla lookalike is standing still, all this weird light around it, then suddenly, BOOM. There bits of it thrown everywhere!" the teen continued, ignoring the cracking sound coming from Max. "Remember I told you guys I saw a chunk of it fly over the building? It was-"

CRUNCH.

The three teens looked down at Max, who had been forgotten about whilst the three had gotten lost in their gossip. As one, their eyes went down from Max's expression of fury, to the mobile he had taken. It was noticeably bending and the plastic snapping violently as if Max was squeezing a stress ball. This continued for a couple more seconds before Max dropped the now disfigured phone, looked up to each of the three teens and pounced.

The fight degenerated the same way most fights involving Max. Into an uncontrolled scene of chaos and screaming. The fight had only just started however, so most of the chaos and screaming was coming from the teen named Harry, who now had Max standing on his shoulders, one hand pulling his hair and the other repeatable punching him in the face. Harry spun around widely trying, in vain, to dislodge the rabid Lagomorph.

Max, not satisfied with just one target, grabbed both sides of Harry's head and gave him a solid and devastating head-butt, leaving the teen bloody nosed and dazed. Without pausing Max jumped from one target and ran towards Chris, who was desperately trying to get out the door that just a minute ago been locked.

Before he could get the key in, Max was on his back. Chris didn't have time to get a grip on Max before he felt a set of shark like jaws dig into his right shoulder. Like Harry, Chris began flaying widely, grabbing one of Max's ears and pulling desperately to stop the lagomorph from biting him further. Max didn't care. It did hurt having his ear twisted the way it was, but he was in a place far away, where pain or logical thought weren't going to have a say in how he acted.

The last time he had fought with nothing but rage and instinct behind him, he had been having a 1 on 1 fight with Cocky. That fight had not gone so well, mostly because he hadn't paid attention to anything around. Because he had tunnel vision on Cocky, the single aim to pummel him into Lagomorph goo, he hadn't noticed Cocky take aim at Sam's brain jar until it was too late. In the case of the fight Max was currently having, he again had his focus purely aimed at Chris, ignoring the 3rd member of the group. He ignored him, teeth still digging into Chris's shoulder, up until the teen came up behind him and jammed a taser into his back.

Max had a moments realisation as he felt the two prongs poke into his back.

"Oh no… not agaZZSSRRRTTT!" Max said, mouth still full of Chris' jacket and shoulder. The third teen held the taser into Max's back for a solid five seconds before he finally let it go.

"Crap!" Yelled the third gang member, as he pushed the now twitching rabbit thing out of the way and looked at his friends shoulder

"It's OK James, I think. He couldn't bite threw the leather... crap it hurts though" Chris replied threw clenched teeth. "What the **** was this thing?!"

The two gingerly walked passed Max and over to Harry, who was groaning weakly on the floor. "You alright bud?" Chris asked.

"Nwo. I thwink he brwoke it." Harry replied, his words getting muffled as he pinched his bleeding nose.

Chris leaned in closer. "Yeah. What the hell was that about?"

"What should we do with the body?" James asked?

"I don't know, Maybe throw him down the stairs or..." Chris trailed off as he turned to look at Max. Max, not unconscious on the floor but looking right back at him with murder in his now bloodshot eyes.

Max looked away from the white faced Chris to the taser that had been used on him. Now he wasn't just angry. He was insulted. Insulted that he had nearly been taken out by these nobody teens after surviving all the ordeals that had happened the previous day. If the kid had used a taser like the one Cocky had owned he might have been out for a while. As things were, the taser this kid had looked like it belonged in the reduced section of Walmart. That however didn't stop Max from taking the shocking very, VERY personally.

Still not wholly operating on rational thought, Max took out his Luger, took aim at the now wide eyed group in front of him, and without caring of the consequences, fired. He fired over and over again, screaming incoherently the whole time, letting all the frustration from the previous day out in one long barrage of bullets. Max kept going until his clip and lungs were empty. It was only then Max regained his senses and realised in mounting horror what he had just done.

Max had aimed to kill. He had pointed his gun straight at Chris' head and let loose with an entire clip. The fact that Max had suddenly and intentionally decided to commit murder against a small group of adolescence was something Max found rather low, even for him…. The additional fact that he had missed EVERY shot he made, was, in Max's mind, even worse.

The three teens had their heads down, eyes closed, all of them shaking at the sudden thunder that echoed through the apartment. They didn't look up at the rabbit threatening them. If they did they would have been Max's shooting hand twitching violently and the look of horror he had on his face.

 _Did I just do that? Aim to kill three unarmed kids... and miss!?_ Max thought as he put away his gun and tried to steady his nerves. _OK. Need to salvage this and just get home._

In the suddenly silence following the spontaneous gun fire, Chris gingerly looked up to see Max standing over him.

"Ok" Max said, still a little shaken. "You three students?"

Chris wordlessly nodded for all three of them.

"Right… um…. OK, first things first, you're going to clean your apartment."

All three teens looked up, completely confused. "What!?"

"Yep" Max confirmed, getting little more confident as he spoke "You are going to clean up this mess, all the crap you have laying around will be binned. You will treat your home with respect and those who live around you with respect, so as soon as you are done here, you will clean every hallway you three have vandalised. That includes cleaning the spray, cleaning up the rubbish and ... um... scrubbing the carpets."

The three looked at each other, confusion only mounting. Finally Harry raised his hand like he was in front of a school teacher and asked "Can I get my nose looked at first?"

"What? Oh, sure. Whatever" Max said, move back to the door "But don't forget to clean this place. Because I will be back at some point and if there's any sign of you guys making trouble, you won't get off easy" Max fixed them with his most serious glare and just as he was out the door and about to close it called out "Oh, and stop drinking".

With that, the door closed leaving three injured and horribly confused teenagers. It wasn't until a full minute passed before Harry said "… that was getting off easy?"

Max meanwhile had walked away as calmly as he could, getting as far as the stairs before he flat out ran down each flight, having no intention of going back to his client or, despite the threat he made, back to check-up on the three kids at any point in the near or distant future. He just ran for his car, drove as fast as he could until he was back to the apartment and threw himself into bed. He ignored the food Clint had left on the desk and just buried himself into the covers.

He had been alone on a job for the first time he could remember and he had very nearly killed a couple kids guilty of nothing more than getting drunk and being rowdy. And worse, those three idiots had nearly gotten him. He had been so angry, just like when Sam had his brain stolen that he had just gone in berserker style and gotten floored because of it... as a whole, despite being sure the three would not be bothering his client anymore, he had failed at the job. At least by his own standards.

 _I'm on my own now_ , Max thought dejectedly. _I'm on my own... running a private detective agency... and if tonight's anything to go by… I don't think I'm a detective._

With those thoughts repeating over and over, Max fell into a restless sleep, in the now empty apartment.


	4. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"My word" Philip said as he took one last sip of coffee before putting his cup to one side. "That certainly could have gone worse"

"Could also have gone better" Max countered irritably. He was not proud of his first solo attempt at crime fighting despite what excuses he could make for himself.

"Max, you handling those "teens" as you referred to them or the situation in general in a slightly better way is excusable. You possibly killing those lads would have been… well… despite patient confidentiality, I would have felt obliged to inform the authorities of such an act." Philip gave another of his relaxed grins as he laid back on his seat. "Thankfully that is not required. And honestly I am impressed Max"

Max, still half way through his own coffee, looked up in annoyance. "Impressed? If that's sarcasm, I think I should warn you people have lost fingers for less offensive comments aimed at me"

Philip didn't seem fazed by the comment, which just annoyed Max even more. He had been trying to get a rise out of the doctor since he entered his office but nothing he said seemed to bother him.

"No, I am being completely serious Max" Philip replied "And no, not because of how you acted that day"

Max sighed as silence descended, guess it was for him to fill it with the obvious question "Ok, how are you impressed?"

"Because you told me" Philip said simply, arms making a wide gesture to mark how important this was.

Max was just getting an acidic reply ready when he really thought about Philips comment. He had blurted out the whole story. Mentioning every embarrassing act since his picked up the phone was strange enough, but he also went into detail on his thoughts and ( _urgh_ ) his feelings as well. That honestly did surprising him.

"Huh… and that's a good thing?"

"Yes" Doctor Philips replied, nodding eagerly as he stood up. "Yes it very much is. I can promise you Max we are unlikely to get anywhere with this session or any others you wish to take unless you feel comfortable being completely open."

Max mused on this as Philips took his cup and poured himself another serving of coffee from the press. "This is honestly a good start to things. Though if I was to comment on your story Max, I would like to ask about your feelings at the end."

"Hmm?" Max said through a mouth full of coffee.

"When you said you're not really a detective. I want to know if that feeling is still with you, now"

Max considered this, still not feeling odd to go into something so personal. Finally he swallowed his coffee and replied "Do you mean, do I feel like I'm not cut out for crime fighting after that one job?"

Philip nodded.

"No… no I don't think so." This seemed to make Philip relax slightly but Max continued "It took four more requests to come in to make me sure I'm not cut out for it"

This didn't seem to be what Philip expected. But Max was in a sharing moos now, apparently, and the feeling Max wasn't cut out for detective work had been slowly building over the last few weeks.

Philip then looked at his watch and back at Max "You technically only have 5 more minutes for our session, but I'm going to ignore that. For the moment, I think it best you continue with these other jobs you've taken." And with that Philip sat back down and looked at Max attentively.

Max just shrugged. "There really isn't a big story behind each one Doc. The next one I had came three days later. Again some lady phoned up… Mary I think her name was. Well she wanted to hire me to find her missing husband."

Max picked up his coffee and with one final swig, downed the contents and let out a sigh. As he passed the cup to Philip to refill it, he continued "She was dead set that he had been killed by the giant monster that rampaged through the city just recently. So I looked. As it turned out there were no reported dead during Sam's rampage" Max cringed a little as he referenced his friend so casually during the time he was not really Sam.

"But despite that, there was no end to the rubble or debris where Sam had knocked over buildings and such. Thought maybe he was buried or something. Spent three days straight just randomly going to each site where Sam had made a particularly big mess and just stared at it, wondering how the hell I was supposed to looked through all that rubble."

Philip retook his seat as he handed Max his refilled cup. "So you were unable to find him?"

"Oh no, I found him. At the city morgue on the 3rd day I spent wasting my time staring at rocks. Turned out he had been killed in a bar fight a couple days earlier. Only found out about it when the client told me my services were no longer required. Max said bitterly.

Philip, obviously trying to find a bright side said "Well, you couldn't have known that -"

"If I had asked Mary where her husband frequently visited outside of home, I would have been told he spent almost of his time outside of work at one specific bar where he was known to get into fights. I should have asked that. And asked where he worked, and if he had any enemies and…. Well anything. I didn't question her at all about her Husband, except what his name was and what he looked like."

Max slumped in his seat as he finished, feeling more drained then when he spoke about the teenagers. With that case, he could excuse himself for having a rather bad day. The next case though? He knew as soon as the client phoned him and told what had actually happened to her husband that he had made some pretty basic mistakes.

Philip just sat back in his own seat, not making any comment on Max's short story. Instead he just asked "And the other cases?"

Max again just shrugged. "Oh let's see. The second one was a guy asking if I could find his Mercedes. I won't go into details but let's just say his Mercedes was found and subsequently lost again, permanently"

Philip, confused asked "How do you mean?"

Max, taking a sip of his coffee just said "I found it in Hell's kitchen… and I then lost it in the Hudson"

Philip burst into laughter at that, though quickly stifled it. "(snigger) sorry. Go on"

Max ignore this continued "Third was a client asking me to find out who threw a petrol bomb into his home"

This made Philip perk up. "And did you find the culprit"

"Nope. Wasn't any. The client was trying to trying to run an insurance scam. Hired me to make his story of arson more credible. Again, I spent half a week wasting my time on non-existent leads before some investigator from the insurance agency contacted me, out of pity, to tell me my client had been arrested."

Max shook his head, trying to shake away the grow embarrassment from he got from remembering those cases. All of them in their own way had been a failure for Max.

"And then there's the forth one… not much to really say on that. Only got it today"

"You took a case today? One that's still on-going?" Philip asked, interest growing. When Max nodded he continued, "Ok, let's start from the beginning. Go over the day from the beginning."

"Alright, though there isn't much to this one." Max said. "Ok, well the day started the usual way for me"

"and how do your days usually start?" Philip asked

"In the afternoon" Max answered with a grin.


	5. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Max awoke to the sound of the office phone going off. In the old days, as he now dubbed anything prior to 3 weeks ago, any time the phone rang, there would be a spontaneous race between himself and his now deceased partner to see who could get a hold of the handset first. A race subsequently that Max never won. This had never bothered him, finding the engagement a tradition for the partners in crime prevention.

Now however, after three weeks of actually be able to take front seat in handling the commissioner or clients that rang in, Max found the cheap piece of plastic to be nothing but a harbinger of worries and responsibilities. Responsibilities he felt he wasn't proving capable of handling.

And after the last case, responsibilities he felt like ignoring, indefinitely. He hadn't gone so far as deciding to quit and shut down BLANK and Max – Freelance Police, but simply ignoring everything and everyone around his had seemed to be working out for him.

So Max let the phone ring out and carry over to voice mail. He barely paid attention as he heard the still unchanged recording of himself and Sam come from the answering machine.

As soon as Max and Sam's cheery voices died away, Max could hear through the sheets "Hello. My name is Mr Michael Liverstone. I've been asked by my employers to make a request for your aid in the investigation of missing shipment of chemicals from our warehouse. We store various compounds for our… actually, it might be simpler if we speak in person. Our address is 658 8th Avenue, the building name is FED Incorporated. You will be paid $2000 for making the initial visit to the site."

And just like that, the message ended and the tape stopped recording. Max lay there, trying to bring himself to care about the message or be intrigued in the slightest, but it battled between that and going back to sleep, and the sleep was winning. He had no interest in money and a job that just paid you for turning up was just asking him to get stung in some way. He had already been burned by one client trying to use him.

Just as Max made up his mind to get up only to delete the message, he remembered his appointments. Today was the day he had his meeting with…. _What was his name? Drakes?_ Max mentally shrugged as he stretched. Flint had spoken highly of him and Flint was one of the few people Max had not completely shut out over the last 3 weeks.

"Ok… its 1:00 now… meeting is at 4:00... eh, screw it" And with that being the entire basis for Max taking this potentially high profile job, he grabbed the keys to the Desoto and walked out the door.

It was only when he was reaching the warehouse when Max saw himself in the car's rear-view mirror. Despite how lax Max had gotten with his personal hygiene over the last few weeks, even he was surprised with how haggard he looked.

"Hmm, will just tell them it's shedding season for Lagomorphs or something." Max said as he leaned out the window of the Desoto and pushed the intercom button for the gates. "Max from Sam and Max here"

"Thank you sir. You are expected. Please go through to reception to receive you visitors badge."

"Groovy" Max murmured, already regretting coming here. However he still had 2 hours to use up before he had to head over to Drakes. He could waste that here, and despite his initial misgiving's, he didn't get the feeling of anything shady from this place. It looked like a normal warehouse, people going in and out… though.

Max grinned as he walked to the main entrance, spotting police tape on one of the truck delivery points. The door where the entrance was seemed to have been wrecked. _So the police had been here… why then did they want a PI here then?_

Max let that thought go as he entered the automated doors and met a young girl in a smart suit waiting for him. She was smiling broadly at Max and handed him a black plastic card with the word VISITOR on it. "Hello Sir. I have been told to bring you to Mr Liverstone straight away. If you would hold on the card and follow me please." And with that she began walking away, not waiting for a reply.

Max wasn't in the mood for dialog in any case and just followed wordlessly, flipping the card idly as they walked. They moved from a welcoming reception area with white ceramic floor tiles and sleek looking doors leading to the rest of the build, straight to the main store area. The shelves seemed to go on further then Max could see, all of them filled with cardboard and wooden boxes of various shape. Max was tempted to make an "Ark of the Covenant" reference, but guessed the lady probably got asked something cheesy like that from every visitor.

As Max walked, looking down the aisles they passed, something struck Max… "This place stinks"

"Hmm?" The receptionist asked, surprised by the abrupt comment. "Pardon?"

Max sniffed the air again. "This place. Smells like… well… ****"

The receptionist gave Max a not too friendly look. Those were effectively the only words Max had spoken to here, so as first impressions go, it wasn't a great start to forming the image of a respectable detective. But she decided to take a large sniff but ended up shaking her head "I'm afraid sir I smell nothing"

 _Lagomorph noise_ , Max guessed. _How did humans manage with their crappy senses_.

He put the smell out of his mind as he continued to follow all the way to one specific aisle, where a man was waiting for them both.

"Mr Max, this is Mr Liverstone, Chief Supply Manager." The receptionist introduced as said manager held out his hand. He was large, in both height and girth and seemed to be balding, save a few strands desperately trying to do the job of a full head of hair. Failing badly. Despite that, he seemed pleasant enough as he introduced himself.

"Hello. My name is Michael or just Mike. Thank you so much for coming so quickly" He said quickly, dabbing a cloth from his shirt pocket over his sweaty fore head.

"No probs" Max said taking the hand. "So, let me guess. Arc of the Covenant stolen?"

 _Dammit, I promised myself I wouldn't make that joke_ , Max thought irritably.

"Oh no" Mike replied, himself and the receptionist giving off an obviously fake set of chuckles to the joke. "Nothing so dramatic, but you are right, there has been a theft. Dorothy, that will be all. Thank you for escorting our guest."

"Not at all" Dorothy replied, obviously finding it difficult to remain cheerful and polite in front of Max and happy to get away.

 _Yep_ , Max thought cynically. _Still a charmer._

Max wasn't really annoyed though. He found anyone he spoke to nowadays he automatically tried to annoy or act vulgar around. He was someone who liked to push peoples buttons, and the event three weeks ago, it had only gotten worse.

"Now then, I should probably go into detail on what we do" Mike started.

"Ooh ooh, let me guess. Store stuff?" Max asked, hand raised like answering a teacher in class., seeing how far he could annoy this guy, now the girl was gone.

"Yes, that pretty much it." Mike replied unphased, "But we don't house for multiple companies, just one. Our company FED is the child company to EGI"

"EGI… wait…" Max said, mind racing. He knew he knew that name. "… do you mean Egghead Industries?"

"Um. Yes" Mike replied, obviously not too happy to use the full name of the company. "I was told by a representative from EGI to call you. We already had the police visit and make an initial investigation a week ago but we don't believe much progress has been made so far"

 _OK_ , Max thought, now suddenly in a good mood. _Now I know why I was asked to come… Alright. Probably best I don't embarrass myself._

"Ok, so what was stolen" Max asked, at least trying to sound professional.

"Five crates containing Dryhazometosin" Mike said easily.

"Ok, anything over five syllables long you can assume I won't recognise." Max replied dryly, trying and failing to pronounce the word even in his own head.

"That's understandable. We act as store house for all raw material and compounds EGI produce or require for the various labs they have around America. There are materials here that have potentially enormous financial value, even in small quantities. By comparison Dryhazometosin is a relatively cheap, if difficult to acquire, substance used in the creation of blasting gel."

"Blasting Gel?" Max asked, suddenly getting his hopes up. _A group of criminals with five crates of high explosives. I love working on cases that can generate the word "catastrophe" in the newspapers._

"Yes, but not the actual explosive part. It's pretty much inert on its own and you can buy it legally without the need for any sort of license, as far as I know. The blasting gel is just an example. It's used in the production of many items but… well, since so much of it has been stolen, it's hard not to think about possible terrorist involvement… you know. Stealing the stuff means there's no trail" Mike said, rubbing the cloth again over his increasingly sweaty forehead.

"Hmm, OK. Where were these crates taken from?" Max asked, suddenly annoyed he hadn't taken his notebook with him.

"Right here" Mike said, indicating a noticeably large gap of empty shelving. "All the crates were stored here. And nothing else was stolen. Only these crates"

"Value" Max asked.

"Well, in such quantity, probably $50,000. But as I said, for weight and size, there are far better targets here, even in this very aisle. And that, from what I was told by EGI, it isn't that sort-after a material. There is no market for it. Really the only use this stuff has in relation to anything criminal from what I can see is its connection to high explosives"

Max seemed hesitant. He didn't want to jump to conclusions but Mike did seem convinced on the explosives link to the stolen goods.

"Ok… could you get me as much information on this stuff as possible? The exact amount inside each crate, how big each one was, when the stuff arrived…"

Mike just handed Max a folder, obviously already prepared. _Probably the same notes he gave to the police,_ Max thought as he skimmed his way through the details the missing Dryhazometosin. The notes didn't really tell him much, but he could work through them later.

 _I guess I am taking one more case… fine. The police are already working on it. My input won't screw anything up then._

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Mike asked.

"No, thanks. I'll look around and…" Max let the sentence hang as he wondered what he should do next. The crime scene really wasn't much of a scene. Just some empty shelves. And every aisle was a mirror of each other. Nothing seem to stand out, except the smell, Max thought bitterly. It was pretty invasive here.

"What is that smell by the way? I know I'm not imagining it" Max asked.

"Oh, that. Well…" Mike paused, looking obviously embarrassed. "I don't' know if I should admit this, but sometimes the seal on some of the chemicals we store gets torn, at least the ones not tagged "Handle With Care" or "Dangerous". We get a whole spectrum of smells around here. After a few years, my nose just doesn't register anything anymore" Mike said jovially.

Max cringed. _So I'm breathing in the local areas chemical waste… freaking A._

With that Mike left, but not before handing a check to Max for the promised $2000 and a contract for the job. Following that, Max wondered around the aisles looking for clues. He had didn't have high hopes though, if the police had already had full access to the place, a full week ago. But Max tried, looking under and around the shelves for anything that looked out of place.

Max tried to operate like Sam did. Sam seemed to have the knack of picking up seemingly useless junk which later on turned out to be integral in moving them forward in the case. Max however didn't feel he could pick up any amount of stuff laying around and hope it would prove useful later. Mostly for the reason he didn't have any pockets to store them in.

 _God, might actually have to think about getting some clothes, if only to keep stuff… no! Don't think like that. You've been a proud nudist for most of your life. No need to go over to the Dark side now._

Max continued looping around the same aisle, lost in his thoughts when he noticed he had wasted the full hour he had left. And…. Nothing. Nothing had come to him on how he was to progress the crime. And no clues seemed to be around.

 _Or maybe there are clues but I'm too Max to notice them,_ Max thought, who had sadly been using his own name as a derogative recently. _Maybe ask the cops… no, they won't discuss an open investigation with me, not whilst I'm uncertified. No… maybe…. God, what they hell do I do? How the hell am I supposed to catch a bunch of terrorists?_

Max kept thinking trying to move even one step forward in the case until he realised he was going to be late for his appointment and decided to leave. He walked fast out of the main warehouse, threw his visitor card wordlessly on the desk and left.


	6. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"And… well that's it. Just got back from there, came here… and threatened your clock" Max finished.

"I see. Well, I am glad to hear you are working on such an important case Max. Though why did you decide to take the case seriously when you heard about 'EGI'?"

"Um, my little secret" Max said grinning mischievously.

"Ok, I won't pry. In any case Max, I think this has been a very good session" Philip said, taking Max's empty cup and putting it in the sink.

"What? It's over? But you haven't done anything yet!" Max said, annoyed at not getting his money's worth, despite not paying for this session.

"Max, most of what we will be doing is you talking. Talking is, in my mind, the best kind of therapy there is. My job, if I were to summarise it, is to try and get you to talk about the correct things. The things you might not want to talk about or even admit. And our session was only meant to be an hour long Max. We have been here two and a half hours"

Max looked at a clock on Philips desk in shock. _Have I really been talking that long?_

"Honestly Max, do you feel any better after talking about the last few weeks?" Philip asked as he escorted Max from the kitchen to his desk.

"Um… maybe. I don't know" Max answered, a little unsure.

"I can promise you, you look better. You seem to be smiling a little at least. Anyway, I suggest another meeting. This time we can book for a larger time slot, so we don't run overboard again. Are you happy to talk again tomorrow?" Philip asked as he brought out his diary.

"Sure. Why not" Max said, still a little annoyed that the entire session had pretty much been one sided. He hadn't originally put much faith in the idea of seeing a shrink, but he hoped for a little bit more then "tell me how you day has been".

As Philip put the session in his diary and walked Max to the door, he paused. "You do not seem very satisfied Max so I will try to give you something for this session"

"Can it be taken nasally?" Max asked, as if on automatic.

"No Max, not a prescription. And not really professional guidance." Philip replied. "More just general advice, one work professional to another."

Max looked blank at this "Wha?"

"You, if I am correct, have been working in a partnership since you started working as a 'Freelance Policeman'. You and Sam, I imagine had a good working relationship. Sam from what you described to me was the one who generally took the lead in most case. Am I correct"

Max just nodded, paying a little but more attention to what Philip said.

"I was like that once. Before I started this practise I worked as a standard medical doctor, working at The Allen Hospital on Broadway. I started there, after just getting my MD working under a senior Doctor by the name of Jones... I bet you are wondering why I'm telling you this."

Max again just nodded before adding "Was on my mind Doc"

"Well when I was on the ward, we spilt the work. You generally are not supposed to but, unless we were overrun, we had a general list of cases we each took, with me usually handling basic trauma and other simple cases. I remember though there being many days when cases would come in that were not straight forward. Patients describing symptoms that didn't make sense. Medical scans that left me confused."

"So I'm you in this scenario?" Max asked, not sure if he was happy being compared with a rookie doctor. He had been working with Sam since they started their Freelance Police. He wasn't proud of how he started his solo career but he didn't think of himself as a rookie.

"Not quite. There is there a very basic point to this story" Philips answered.

"Which is?" Max asked, crossing his arms.

"When everything was still new to me, and I got these cases that confused me…. I asked for help"

"… that's it?" Max asked, again not feeling like he was getting his money's worth.

"That really is it. When I had trouble near the beginning, I had Doctor Jones. He had experience I didn't have and I am sure if I had just tried to prognoses those cases myself, I probably would have made things worse for a number of my patients."

Noting Max did not seem entirely satisfied still, Philip continued "Max, you may have had a good working relationship with Sam and together you managed to solve a great number of difficult and if I am correct, dangerous cases together. But I do not think you can simply go from a team dynamic, like the one you had, to working alone without there being problems. And in your position Max, I would honestly say there is no shame in asking someone else, someone with more experience handling your kind of work alone, for help."

"You mean get another partner!?" Max asked, aghast at the idea of just replacing Sam.

"No, no Max. I am not suggesting you go that far. But there is nothing wrong in just seeking advice from someone in your line of work when you feel you need it. Someone who also does private investigations, who works alone and knows the difficulties in working in your particular field. Maybe a friend… maybe a mutual friend?" Philip said, trying to get Max to pick up the hint he was dropping.

It was only at the end that Max realised what Philips was getting at. "…Oh"


	7. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"God this is pathetic" Max whispered, standing on the second floor of the apartment building he worked in. However, unlike normal nights, he did not walk straight up the stairs and over to his office. Instead he lingered outside the door to his neighbour's office… Flint Paper's office.

Max stood outside, fidgeting awkwardly as he figured out how he was going to ask for Flints help whilst retaining as much dignity as possible.

 _Hey Flint. How's it going? Any interesting cases?... That's cool. I'm working on something but you probably wouldn't be interested…. Oh you would?... It's just a bog standard robbery from some chemical factory. Only just got the case earlier today... actually, whilst you're here, fancy me picking your brain on the matter, one PI to another?_

 _Ok, that might not sound too feeble. Just make the subject come up naturally and just let him talk-_ Max's thoughts were interrupted as flint, probably seeing the bunny silhouette through the glass of the door, opened grinning.

"Hey there big guy. How are you-"

"Flint. Need help. Bad" Max blurted out.

 _Oh you are a class act Max. REAL freaking smooth._

Flint, just stood there, mouth hanging open slightly before he snapped it shut stepped back into his office. "Well you'd best come in and tell me how I can help"

Max hadn't spoken much to Flint since the incident with Sam. He hadn't actively tried to avoid Flint exactly. It was still good to hear the daily beatings coming from Flint's office as he smashed in the skulls of one perp followed by another. Max even found it soothing enough to get him to sleep some nights. But following Sam's death Max had made no effort to contacting anyone. People came to visit at first and he… endured them. But following that, Max kept to himself.

But though Max had been thinking less kindly to some of his friends, Flint was a definite exception. He was one of the good ones. Not just good friend, but good guy in general. Which was exactly why Max found it so difficult to just ask for help from him. It was hard to explain, especially to himself but asking for help from Flint struck him as… well, seeming weak.

But after Max was let into the office and Flint gathered there wasn't an emergency of some kind, they got to talking. First talking about Sam, something Max did find some catharsis in, then moving on to Flint and general news on what was going on with the others: Sybil, Abe, Momma Bosco, Bosco and such. And then.

"So little bud, how have things been for you, since… you know. I've not see you leave the office for a while" Flint asked

"I've have been out on occasion. Mostly doing jobs" Max said weakly.

Flint seemed to cheer up at the news. "Jobs? That's great Max. So you've been taking case? Anything juicy?"

What cheer Flint seemed to have dried up as he saw the expression on Max's face. For the years the two had known each other, Flint had seen Max as a law enforcing psychopath, willing to punch first, shoot second and then possibly ask questions later. It was this main reason the two of them got along so well. However, seeing the look of shame on his face…

"I see… this to do with you asking me for help?" Flint asked, now all serious.

Max just nodded, not willing to look Flint in the eye. He just clicked his fingers, something he only did when nervous.

"Come on then Pal. Tell yah buddy Flint what's been going on."

And… Max did. He blurted out everything that happened on his first case just after leaving Flint three weeks ago, the cases following that and all the mistakes Max thought he made. It all just came out in a long series of self-pitying episodes. He finished off with his last job and just fell silent. Unlike the talk he had with Philips, which seemed to get rid of some of his anxiety, this just brought it all back, with interest.

Flint was silent throughout the entire rant. It was only when Max seemed to be winded after speaking for a solid three minutes that Flint replied.

"Well… seems you've had it tough buddy."

Max just shrugged. "Not really. In hindsight… all the cases were pretty straight forward"

"Yep. Hindsight. Great thing to help on cases which have already been solved" Flint dismissively, hand rubbing his chin as he recapped over Max's story. Only after a solid ten seconds of silence did Flint nod his head and say "But thinking about all you said… I think I know what's been messing up your game Max"

"You do?" Max asked, hope raising.

"Yep. Can see it clear as day… intuition"

"… come again?" Max asked dryly.

"Intuition, Max" Flint said, standing up and making a broad gesture. "The bread and butter of the investigating world. Without it, no amount of clues or know-how will get you anywhere on any case"

Max felt like he had been punched in the gut. Had Flint just told him he wasn't cut out to be a detective? In a weak voice Max asked "So since I don't have this "intuition", I-" Max was cut off as Flint slapped him on the side of his head. Max was stunned. He was too shocked to build up his usual reservoir of wrath and anger for the assault.

"Don't give me that crap Max. I've been working next to you and Sam for years. I know you have the mind of a detective in there. Think of all the cases you both solved"

Max waved off the comment "Sam took the lead in most if not all of the cases. What makes you think-"

"Max" Flint said, cutting him off and sitting back down opposite him "I'll tell you something. About a year ago on one of your cases, you went out of the office to chase down… who was it…Jimmy the Rat I think. But that doesn't matter" Flint said waving off the last part. "Whilst you were out, Sam came over here when he heard me chuck from some guy out my window. Think he was bored"

Flint took a drag of his cigarette, happy that Max seemed to be paying attention. "Well we got to chatting. About what we were both working on, interrogation techniques, just chit chat. And I remember, when the subject went to you, Sam saying something to me that to this day has stuck with me"

Max leaned forward in his chair desperate to hear what his old friend had told Flint. "Which was?"

"He told me that at times, he felt like the stupid one in the partnership."

"Wait, what!?" Max asked, now completely confused.

"Hate to put you down little guy but I reacted the same way. Not to say I thought you were stupid or anything. Just always pegged you as the muscle of the team"

Max just nodded at this. That was how he saw it, despite being a third the size and weight of Sam.

"But he just went on, saying sometimes he found it depressing when he spent ages on a case, coat full of clues, no end of people around to question and would get completely stuck. No idea how to continue." Flint took another drag just to let this sink in before continuing. "And I can relate to that. Happens to everyone. But whenever he got stuck, he said when he asked you about it you would say some innocent comment or tip that would always be right on the money."

Max looked confused. "Really?" He asked, not really sure what Flint was talking about.

"Straight up. He said it seemed like you already had the case all tied up, but was letting Sam catch up by handing him tips every so often"

"Well that's not true. I can promise you that." Max said, still bewildered by Sam's story.

"Well do you remember help Sam when he got stuck?" Flint asked.

"Oh yeah. All the time. Whenever I saw Sam rubbing every object in his cardboard box onto all the stuff around him, I couldn't not say something. It was kind of embarrassing." Max shook his head, remember the memories fondly. "But all I said was… well, just what was on the top of my mind"

Flint shot up again and pointed triumphantly at Max. "Exactly! That's what I guessed. That's intuition Max. Your gut telling you what your brains too stupid to figure out"

Max, still unsure asked. "I don't know. I mean if I have it, it's been pretty quiet these last few weeks"

"Of course it's been Max. Intuition isn't going to make a damn difference if you don't have the confidence to listen to it"

"Confidence? Never been told I lack for that" Max said, not quite buying this easy answer to all his problems.

"Max, I'm gonna be straight with you. When you came into my office and told me about all the stuff that's being going on with you, you did tell me like a friend needing a bit of help, which is what friends ask for and give. No, when you came in and told me all this, all I could think about was how you looked like a kid handing in a school report he knows will get him an F."

Max was taken aback. He hadn't expected such a blunt response from his friend but mentally repeating the scene in his mind…

 _Wow… I really am pathetic. And he's right, this is how a KID acts with his problems._

"Also another thing Max. In pretty much all the jobs you told me about you listened to what the client thought and blindly followed their directions. Like the girl who thought her husband had been swept up in that mess with Sam and you."

"What? Should I not listen to the clients?

"HELL NO!" Flint shouted, startling Max almost out of his seat. "You never listen to the hunches of the client. That's what you are for, not them. If they are dictating how the investigation is done, there's no point you being there. Telling you straight Max, get the facts out of your client and that's it. Now think about this case earlier today."

"The Blasting Gel case?" Max asked, starting to feel more comfortable.

"Yeah. Forget the terrorist rubbish for the moment little bud. Now think. Really think. When you were at the site, what were you thinking? Did a thought keep bouncing around you head, not leaving you alone?"

Max just shook his head. "Nothing really... except… no, nothing"

"No" flint said, pointing directly at Max with what remained for his cigarette "Don't ignore anything that grabs your attention Max. No matter how trivial. Don't tell me what it was either. Just go back there and look at the place again, only this time you set the rules."

Max nodded, suddenly finding himself grinning trying to think back to the job. There had been questions he wanted to ask but just put them off till later. That had just been laziness on his part. But had there been something that had caught his attention and he didn't put any weight to it?

Max sat there, wondering when…

 _There Is one thing I could check._

With that Max got up and walked for the door. Just as he had his hand on the handle however, he called back "… Thanks Flint. Really"

"Don't mention it little bud. First duty of a friend. See someone with that self-pitying look, slap them until learn not to be idiots" Flint replied, waving back to Max.

 _…Flints really is one of the good ones,_ Max thought to himself again. And after all that, he suddenly felt more like his old self then he had in weeks. Grinning madly, he dashed out the door and back to the Desoto, already on his way back to the Warehouse.


	8. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was over an hours' time until Max got back to the warehouse. Thankfully it seemed there were at least some staff around, despite the late hour. Even if it was just a skeleton crew minding the place, he could still probably bluster his way in.

With that in mind, Max walked up to the entrance and, again to his satisfaction, he found the same lady minding the reception desk.

 _What was her name?_

"Dorothy! Good to see you again" Max said cheerfully.

The sudden look of surprise and the extremely fake smile Dorothy display pretty much said "We can pretend that's the case, but it obviously isn't".

What she actually said was "Why hello officer. How can I help at this… late hour?"

Max glanced at the time. 9:55. "I just wanted to continue with my investigation. Had to follow some leads after I left, you know. Detective stuff."

"I see" Dorothy said dubiously. She glanced again at the time and sighed.

"Talking of detective stuff, using my immense skills of deduction, I deduce" _Hehe, deduce. Always wanted to use that word someday_ "That your shift ends in 5 minutes"

To Max's delight Dorothy's grin seemed to become far more forced as she obviously resisted saying something biting back to him. "Why yes Mr… Maxwell?"

"Max" Max corrected her.

"Max, yes I do technically finish my shift in 5 minutes, but if you happen to need something, I would be more than happy to-"

"Outstanding!" Max shouted, cutting her off as he walked over to the walkway she had lead him through earlier that day. Practically hear the sound of her teeth grind behind him, Max walked confidently over to the main doors leading to the factory, waiting for Dorothy to catch-up.

Dorothy noticeably slouched as she got to the door and opened it for Max, already resigned that she was not getting home at a reasonable time. Max on his part was aware of this… and didn't care.

The two walked through the aisles of the seemingly endless warehouse, Max leading the way until they got to the scene of the crime. The same empty spot in the middle of an normal looking aisle welcomed Max as he looked over the area again. It was only then that Max took out the folder he had been given by Mike. He began leafing through it but after a few pages, just handed it over to Dorothy.

"Um, Sir, can I ask-"

"The form looks like something you guys use for your shipping containers, right?" Max asked, cutting her off again.

Dorothy looked confused but answered "Yes, this is the standard report that we make on all our containers. You can see the same details clipped on to most of the boxes around here"

Max nodded "Ok, might save time then if you know where to look to get the stuff I need"

Dorothy looked annoyed at been given the job as, for all intents and purposes, a secretary. Despite that she nodded and waited.

"Ok, first thing, how much did each crate weight"

"We don't store the exact weight for these items. Only grades so we know if we need to use heavy equipment like a fork lift to move them." Dorothy answered as she looked over the form. "If it helps, each crate was of grade E… which is our highest weight category" This last part seemed to surprise her.

"And grade E means…?" Max asked impatiently.

"Um, at a minimum each crate would be around 1000 pounds. With 6 missing that's…."

"6000 pounds…around 3 tons" Max whistled at the figure, "That's the weight of a truck. And the size of each crate?"

"Umm… the dimensions are-" Dorothy said looking through the document again

"Just point at a crate of the same size. Doesn't need to be exact" Max said, cutting her off again. However now she didn't seem to be getting annoyed at Max's demands, seeming to get involved in the work.

"I would say this is probably the best match" Dorothy said pointing at one particular crate.

 _Ok, so five crates stolen. Each one weighing over 1000 pounds and as big as the desk back at the office. So too heavy and large for a person to lift… so maybe they brought a fork lift with them… or stole one from here…_

Max mused as he tried to make use of what Dorothy said but decided to just shelve it for the moment. "Ok, second thing. I saw police tape over one of the driver entrances, right"

Dorothy nodded "Yes, they assumed this was the method in which they entered the premise"

Max thought about this. "Ok, let's have a look"

Max, again without waiting for Dorothy, walked away in the direction he guessed the delivery point was. It didn't take long to find the open hole into the night where a metal folding door should be. Max didn't know what to expect as he looked at what remained of the metal.

"This thing looks… shredded"

Dorothy nodded, eyeing the strips of metal hanging loosely off parts of the door. "Yes. Mr Liverstone believes they must have used hooks on gaps in the metal and physically ripped the door away. Probably using a truck with some chains"

Max nodded but stopped. _Don't listen to the clients guess work. That's what you are for._ Max repeated in his head. He looked again and realised that probably wasn't the case. It wasn't down to anything scientific about the tear patterns or anything but, after a long career of one weird case after another, Max had first-hand experience with the sorts of things that caused this damage.

"Nope… someone did this" Max countered.

"Someone? Well that's obvious" Dorothy replied, a little annoyed at Max ignoring her theory.

"I mean someONE did this. Alone. Someone very strong and…"Max knelt down and looked at the irregular tears circling the door and finished "…someone with very long claws."

Max nodded as what he saw matched with what he remembered. He didn't remember any one thing actually. It was rather surprising in fact to go through the number of beats, monsters, mutants and demons Sam and he had met over the years who could tear down a metal door with one sweep of their hands and found he could easily reached double digits before he stopped counting.

"You mean a creature did this?" Dorothy said, not at all convinced

"Can only hope so" Max said happily, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. However, not wanting to linger on this for too long, and convinced there wasn't anything else to cover, Max walked back into the warehouse.

Max still had one thing left to check. In fact it was the only thing Max had wanted to go through after leaving Flint's place. Though he felt compelled now to ask all the questions he knew he should have asked when he first got here, now he wanted to chase up on the one thing that had bothered him the entire time he had been to the warehouse earlier. So Max walked on, deep into the warehouse as he followed his instincts… and his nose.

It was only when he was getting close that Max knew now why the smell he had picked up earlier had been bothering him so much. It wasn't because it was bad… which it was. But really it was how distinctive it was. Originally he just thought it was… well… crap. And again he had let Mike just wave off the question saying some chemical could have caused it. There was one problem with that, and that was the fact Max knew this smell. It was the smell of the sewer.

Now most people would assume that the smell of dung and the smell of the sewer were one in the same. They weren't. Yes, that particular smell was one you got when you ventured forth through the underground water works of New York, and that stench alone did rather demand your attention. But the sewer also had other distinctive scents. Again, none of them particular nice and not what Max would be willing to try and identify individually, but as one who, due to past cases, had been forced to spend an inordinate amount of time in the sewage system (usually near his apartment building) Max was very familiar with its particular … bouquet.

It was this unique collective of scents that led Max to a corner of the warehouse. One noticeably empty, with many of the shelves containing no storage crates of any kind. There just seemed to be an area of concrete in front of him with a door at the end. It looked like a janitors closet to Max.

 _Well, my nose has lead me this far_ , Max thought.

"Could you open that door please" Max asked, trying to hold back the impulse to hold his nose. The smell was no longer something he needed to follow. It was everywhere and hard to miss. Even Dorothy was holding a handkerchief to her nose.

"Of course Office…Urgh" Dorothy said, obviously trying to hold her breath "There must be a pipe broken. How on earth has no one noticed this?"

With that Dorothy walked forward and….

 _What is she doing?_ Max thought as he watched her walk toward the door and open it. "Um, Dorothy. Thanks but… could you walk back to me"

Dorothy looked back quizzically but complied before Max stopped her again.

"Ok…" Max paused wondering how to phrase his next comment "Dorothy. Why are you walking the way you are?"

"I beg your pardon?" Dorothy asked, a little taken aback at the strange comment.

"Ok. Humour me here. Walk back to the door… that's right. Now, look directly at me and start walking to me…."

Dorothy did this but Max just shook his head. "Why are you not walking in a straight line?"

"What? What on Earth are you talking about?" Dorothy replied, no longer hiding her irritation.

Max just watch in confusion. _Did she know she was doing it? Know that when she walked towards the door, she didn't walk towards it, but curved around the main walk way as if avoiding something. And she did the exact same thing when she walked back. Walking around something that wasn't there._

It was when she got back to him, still giving him that questioning glare that Max just shrugged and walked forward, not bothering to take the strange path that Dorothy took. It was for this reason that, unlike Dorothy, Max suddenly found himself falling.


	9. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Max fell… Ok, he only fell for 1 second, but that second of sudden horrible loss of balance and stability shot through him like a taser shock. The sudden burst of adrenaline let him see his foot fall onto the grey concrete floor and, without pause, pass through it as if it didn't exist. Max, suddenly swinging his arms widely, toppled forward. He had just enough time to throw his hands backward and grab onto the actual floor he had just been standing on.

Catching his breath as he wildly looked around, trying to figure out what had just happened, he looked up at Dorothy, who now suddenly looked utterly horrified. Max, from her perspective, was now fused to the floor, as if he had slept in a puddle of concrete that had set and trapped him from the waist down.

Max carefully pulled himself up and looked back at the open area in front of him.

"What was that!?" Dorothy yelled, stepping far back and then pausing, obviously thinking she could accidently fall into a pit herself. "What… what just happened to you? You just seemed to sink and-"

"Give me a minute" Max said distracted.

 _Ok… Ok, this is weird. A fake floor. Maybe there's a hologram or something covering a pit or hole._ Max thought as he leaned down and traced where the real floor ended and the fake floor started. _Whatever this is, either Dorothy knew about it and purposely avoided it just now… no. I think that was real surprise on my face when I fell. And she honestly didn't seem to notice she was avoiding the thing… whatever it is._

Max sniffed again, this time leaning further down and recoiled.

 _Yep, that's the source of the smell. Must be a hole all the way down to…_

Max's thought was cut off as suddenly, as if realising it had been rumbled, the illusion faded away. The floor in front of Max seemed to blur and dissolve, like an Alka-Seltzer dropped in water, he could see parts of the concrete bubble up and distort in the air, leaving hole after hole in the floor until…

"Huh" Max said, not really sure how to continue, though glad that Dorothy had fallen silent.

After the silence seemed to have gone on long enough Max finally said. "Well…. We know how they got in"

Before both him and Dorothy lay a pit, easily 10 meters in diameter. Max was now sure Dorothy had not known about the hole, as the path she had taken was so close to the edge, one misstep would have dropped down a pit easily 30 meters deep. Even with the sound of running water below to suggest a soft landing, he was pretty sure she would have been seriously injured bouncing from side to side down the jagged sides of the whole.

The thought had obviously struck Dorothy as she eyed the walk way around the hole and instantly grabbed a hold of Max as if in need of stability. Max didn't know what stability a 70 pound rabbit could offer, but being one not inclined to petting or touching by strangers he shook her off and went to the edge of the opening.

"Just like the door. This wasn't done by equipment from what I can see."

"Why do you say that?" Dorothy asked, quickly gathering herself, though in no mood to go near the pit.

"Because there are hand prints in the rock" Max said simply, eyeing one clean looking hand print near one edge of the pit.

 _Whoever… no… no, this thing has now been upgraded to a Whatever. Whatever did this must be crazy strong. He's made clear hand prints all over the passage._

Max looked over to the rake patterns and whistled. "Wow. This thing just…" Max made a sweeping gesture with his arm as if to demonstrate "just raked the concrete like it was… hmm" Max tried to think of a comparison "… uhhh. Snow… jelly… packing foam…. Banang?... Anyway, he just tore all from the sewer below and dug his way up…

Max looked again at the hand prints made where the thing had obviously pushed hard again one side of the hole, maybe to work on digging out the other side? That was only a guess but it didn't matter. This thing had left a good hand print to for him get.

"This also explains who moved the crates. Something able to do this would probably be able to load those crates without needing a fork lift"

 _Cool, one mystery down. Now… the rest of it. Max leaned closely to one of the clear prints. Need to make a mould of this somehow_

"Dorothy. Could you help me with something? I need to make a mould of this print…. Do you have something around here? Paste or something that?" Max asked vainly.

To his surprise, Dorothy seemed to brighten up and say "Oh yes… Um… I think I know something that can help" And with that she ran away, all trepidation and obvious longing to go home passed for the moment. She almost seemed exited.

 _So am I_ , Max thought to himself, not bothering to hold back his satisfaction. Five minutes back in the warehouse and he had picked up on something he knew the police had missed. This might sound petty… and probably was, but that didn't matter. He was now truly leading the case. And now…

"… Now I investigate" Max said grinning

And with that Max stepped forward and fell unceremoniously down the hole. It was only when Max crashed into the giant pile of rocks and concrete at the bottom of the hole did he regret the decision.

"Argh…" Max said, massaging his feet. Jumping 30 feet into a pile of pointy rocks was not life threatening for him, but it did create some devastating splinters he had to deal with. As he pulled out the pointy rocks from one foot, he realise jumping down the hole and hoping to land in water… and the term water was a pretty generous term for what was flowing just next to Max, that landing in the pile of waters was probably the better option.

 _Right, down to business,_ Max thought as he looked around the sewage tunnel. It was… well a sewer. Nothing seemed out of place save the giant pile of rubble leading up to the hole he jumped own.

Just to be sure though Max looked down one end of the passage and began to walk. _Let's see. Chances are, the bad guys came up through the hole, grabbed the stuff and then simply walked out… No, they didn't walk out. They went over to that metal door, ripped it apart but still left through the hole they made. They give the police a point of entry that would waste their time… cannot be sure but why else make the hole so wide?_

Max continued walking, the passage not splitting apart thankfully until…

"Bingo" Max said, spotting a ladder leading to a street manhole. At least what probably used to lead to a street manhole. Now however, even if the opening was blocked, all the brick work at the top of the ladder had been ripped apart. It seemed to have something covering the hole but Max guessed it was another illusion. That was fine by him. He was only interested in the stuff at the bottom of the ladder.

And the most noticeably thing at the bottom of the ladder was a crate. At least what remained of one, was lying in pieces at the bottom of the ladder. Max guessed it had been dropped when whoever had took was climbing the ladder. Around the wooden splinters were around a dozen clear plastic packets. All of them contained an innocent looking clear liquid.

"Must be the dy… dy…. Ok, not even gonna try to say it. The goods." Max looked around. _There were hardly enough of them to fill the box so probably they just grabbed as much as possible and ran for it. Hmm, this deducing stuff is fun._

Max reached down and grabbed one of the packets. It felt like gel as he squeezed it in his hands.

"Better take at least one back-" Max said before stopping as he spotted something near the box. Leaning down, Max could see a piece of bronzed metal in the shape of a hook trapped under the crate. With a little effort Max was able to dislodge the item from the wooden debris and was able to see what it actually was.

 _A cane?_ Max thought curiously. The metal bronze hook was the grip to a short, ebony coloured walking stick. _Looks expensive,_ Max noted as he looked at the woodwork and handle. _Only a guess but nothing about it seems cheap. Good wood, good metal working… wait._

Max took the handle of the cane and let the tip drop to the floor… it was REALLY short. Short anyway for a normal human. It seemed to have been made for someone around his size.

"Ok… so either one guy took all this stuff… One guy super strong, able to drag all this stuff along with him but who also needs a stick to walk with." Max mused. _That doesn't quite fit. So at least two guys. One or more brawn, able to break into the place and move the stuff. And the other, if he really did need a stick to move about, would have to be the brains. Nothing else he could offer to the job. That or the boss._

Max scratched his chin as he looked at the two objects. Deciding he wasn't going to learn anymore he tucked the two items under one arm and walked back to the warehouse. He made it back in good time as he heard Dorothy arriving back at the top of the tunnel.

"Mr Max?" Are you there" Dorothy yelled down, seeming out of breath

"Yeah. All good down here. Did you find anything by the way?" Max called, slowly climbing up the hole. Thankfully with all the ridges in the shattered rock and concrete, it was an easy climb for Max, even with one hand. As he reached the top and dropped off the packet and cane, Dorothy handed down a sheet of metal and a spray can.

Before Max needed to ask what the hell she had given her, Dorothy explained "The can's full of foam. One of the things we store, it's used for packaging. I remember it's not adhesive and when it expands and settles, it does harden to something solid. I don't think it's very strong but if you just need a shape…" Dorothy trailed off, suddenly seeming to second guess her make shift cast maker.

"Cool. Forensic crime fighting in a can. Let's give it a go." With that, Max, still hanging over the edge of the pit chose a left hand print that looked clean, sprayed some of the foam into the vague area of the print. He then threw up the can and using his now free hand, reached and put the metal sheet firmly over the hand print. He waited 2 minutes, feeling the foam expand and push against the sheet metal and then fill in all the gaps in the hand print.

As soon as the time was over, Max removed the sheet of metal, again throwing it up to free up the hand he wasn't hanging from and looked at result. All there seemed to be was a splat of grey over part of the tunnel. But, with care, Max was able to pull it out, revealing…

"Perfect" Max said, grinning broadly as he handed up the cast of the things hand. It had turned out well, showing the hand print perfectly. Dorothy sighed with relief, seeming happy that her idea had worked.

"Cool. Now to make a righty. By the way, want one for yourself?" Max ask, already leaning down the hole again trying to find a good right hand impression. The thing might had been able to slam his hand into the wall with enough force to see a near cartoon like hand print in it, but most of the prints were also destroyed as the thing ripped apart the tunnel to make it wider and wider.

As soon as Max found one he heard Dorothy call down "What? Oh… actually sure. A souvenir from night sounds like fun" she said with a small chuckle.

"Sounds good. I like keeping a couple things when a case is done. Our closet is full of junk we collect to remind us…" Max trailed off as he looked hard at the hand print he had just found.

"Um, Dorothy, could you pass me down the cast I just made?" Max ask, putting the can under his armpit. As Dorothy passed down the cast, Max didn't take it. Instead he just stared at the proffered slab of solidified foam and noticed something.

"His finger nails" Max said out loud.

"What" Dorothy called back in confusion.

"This guy's finger nails. He has three fingers and a thumb, each with a really viscous looking finger nail… or claw. Anyway, he's got four on his left hand"

Max looked back at the right hand print he saw in front of him "But his right hand he only has three. Well four but the one on his thumb is really short"

"Does that matter?" Dorothy called, pulling back the cast.

Max mused for a second. On impulse he dropped down to the bottom of the tunnel, once again landing hard and getting rock bits stuck in his feet. He ignore this and looked again for clean prints for the right hand of the thing. After a few seconds he found another clean one. Only this one was a match for the left. All its claws were visible in the print and all the same length.

He was digging through solid rock. What's the chance when moving all that earth that one of his nails broke? And if that could happen, what's the chance that…

"Dorothy, I might be some time. Just need to check for something" Max called, grabbing a hold of one of the ridges and making his way back up the tunnel.

He could hear her sigh but didn't put much mind to it. For the moment Max was focused on every right hand print he could see. Every one as he made his way slowly up seemed to show the four craws on each digit. However, after three minutes of slowly making his way up the tunnel did he start seeing prints with the 4th digits claw missing. It only took a couple seconds for Max to narrow in on the last hand print to show all four…

"Got it!" Max called up. Dorothy looked down in confusion asking "Found something" but only heard a scrapping noise, then the sound of the foam can being used and then nothing. After a minute passed, Dorothy heard Max scrapping again, probably getting the new cast out, followed by him making his way back up the tunnel.

Max poked his head out of the hole grinning madly. Dorothy however nearly gagged. She hadn't gotten close to Max since his drop into the pit but the smell of the sewers seemed to have found a new host in him.

Max didn't seem to notice as he again dropped cast of the monsters hand and what looked like a black tooth pick. Upon looking closely at it Dorothy suddenly guessed what it was.

"It that… it's nail?" she asked, leaning down at the near finger long piece of black claw.

"Yep" Max said triumphantly. "Found it half way up wedged into the rock." Max said grinning.

Dorothy actually seemed impressed "DNA evidence of the person who broke in? Do you have a lab to process it or will you hand it over to the police?"

Max looked down at the claw and involuntary closed his hand over it. At the moment, despite how childish it seemed, Max wasn't quite willing to hand over anything to the cops. Not because he had anything against them. He was a cop as well…. In the loosest possible terms anyway. But in this case he had found a whole collection of clues that the police had over looked… and for Max, right now, that was something very important to him… in a finders keepers kind of way. Anyway this really was HIS case now. He was leading it. And he wanted to see how far he could get with it.

"I have someone who can look at it" Max said, reaching down and collecting the stuff. He handed over one of the prints, pretty sure he didn't need both and began walking back out of the warehouse. "That should be all I need, thanks Dorothy"

Dorothy grinned and followed Max, obviously happy to get home finally.

It took only a few minutes for Max and Dorothy to leave the warehouse and head their separate ways, her leaving for the subway, him back to the Desoto. Max threw all the items in the back seat, including the can of foam he had picked up… well stolen. But he liked weird stuff like that, which could be useful later on.

With all his finds, suddenly feeling a hundred times better than he had over the last three weeks of solitude, he made his way back home, to sleep, to think… (sniff)… and probably bathe.


	10. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

For the first time in 3 weeks, the Freelance Police office no longer held the overpowering aroma of cigarettes, cheap takeout food and one Lagomorph who had let personal hygiene drop from his list of priorities. That night after coming home from the warehouse, said Lagomorph came in late and suddenly, as if just noticing how bad the office had become, felt the overpowering urge to tidy. He removed the trash littered on the floor, opened windows to let out the stale air, and dusted.

Finally feeling he could let someone enter the office and not be embarrassed, he then took a shower. Three weeks of personal neglect and a few hours stepping through a sewer had felt his fur in desperate need of a little care and attention… and bleach.

Finally Max emerged and, despite the annoying taste of hydrogen peroxide in his mouth, felt… well, good. He was proud the office no longer looked like a tip, he was proud he no longer smelt and looked like a tramp and he was proud of what he accomplished today.

"Ok… been in the dumps long enough. Time to turn things around. No more late nights, no more letting things go to hell, no more acting an ass in front of clients…" Max said, listing off all the ways he would transform himself from the lazy bum he had been that very morning into something better.

(Five hours later)

Ring Ring

(Pause)

Ring Ring

(Pause)

Ring Ri-

Max picked up the phone and said tonelessly "Go away" before dropping it carelessly onto its cradle and stumbling back to bed. _Shortest resolution, ever_ , Max thought groggily as he felt sweet unconsciousness try to take him into its warm embrace…

Ring Ring

"Nooo…" Came the quiet and groggy voice of Max from under the sheets

Ring Ring

"Bugger off!" Max yelled as he got out of bed for the second time. He wiped his crusted eyes, looked at the clock and read 9:12 on its display. _Is the hour of the day still only in single digits? Who the hell calls someone in the middle of the night?_

Ring Ring

"Urghh" Max groaned as he stumbled out of bed and instead of walking, fell in the general direction of the phone. As soon as he collided into the table and grabbed the phone again, he asked "…What is it?" In a voice that didn't bother to hide his irritation.

There was a noticeable pause before finally a deep voice asked "Have I called at a bad time, Sir?"

 _I hung up on you, what do you think._ Max thought irritably. _… wait, Sir?_

"Who is this?" Max asked tiredly before letting out a long and unsuppressed yawn. He didn't recognise the speaker. He couldn't pickup any accent, but the guy's tone itself was incredibly deep. It was the sort of voice you would expect to here in a trailer for some Bruce Willis action movie.

"You do not know me Sir-" The voice replied

"Then don't call me Sir" Max interrupted, feeling himself getting snappy.

Again there was a pause on the other end of the line, though Max was sure he heard muttering going on as this person seemed to be conferring with someone.

"Could I ask if you treat all clients in this manner" The voice finally asked, seeming annoyed at Max's aggressive tone.

"You get customer service from me when Burger King stops serving its breakfast meal, now what do you want" Max replied tersely.

The sound of a sigh came from the line before the voice came back with "My name is Cobra, Sir. I was formally associated with the CIA. I was told by my former colleague, Mr Superball, that you might be able to help me with… a problem"

"I like the unnecessary pause before saying "problem". Very ominous" Max said, rubbing his eyes whilst trying to fishing around for his notepad. "And again, why do you keep calling me Sir?"

"… you are my Commander-in-chief, are you not?" Cobra replied, asking as if hoping the answer was no.

"Commander-in-chief? What are you…. Ohhhh wait, yeah, yeah…. I'm the President… keep forgetting that" Max said indifferently.

"I find that truly hard to believe, Sir. I was led to believe you are now serving your 3rd term?" Cobra said, now keeping his tone neutral.

 _I'm in my third term of office now specifically because I keep forgetting about it_ , Max thought, thinking back to one of the early conversations he had with Agent Superball. He had just given the agent a list of all the policies decisions he had just come up with the previous day.

(To guess at the contents of this list, the term "Go to war against" was used over 20 times in the document, and none of those times was it used in conjunction with any nation. One of the war declarations though had been used against the colour Beige and another against ambivalence.)

Upon receiving said list, Superball and Sam gave Max a simple deal. He could hold the near unlimited power his position of President of the United States gave him as long as he never actually used it. In return Superball and all the other civil servants would just continue handling the general governing of things and he could keep the mat from the Oval Office. The stranger thing was that no one afterwards wanted to run against Max. Not because running against Max would mean running against the person who beat Aid Lincoln in popular vote. It was more that no one wanted to run against Max… because, well… that would mean actually acknowledging Max was the acting president. And no body seemed to want to admit that was the case.

"Ignoring that, I have a job I hope you can help us with" Cobra continued

"Us?" Max asked, finally finding his notepad and pen.

"I am more of a representative for the client then the client itself. We can talk about the details of this case if you are willing to arrange a meeting." Cobra answered.

Max thought for a second. Did he really want two jobs going at the same time? And this one didn't sound like another missing husband or hoodlum problem.

After a few seconds thought Max just shrugged and said curtly "3:00pm tomorrow. This good for you and your buddy?"

"…yes, that should be fine" and with that Cobra hung up. Max could have found this rude but considering his behaviour during the call and the fact he planned to hang up a second later made him bite back that thought.

 _Need to get my sleep pattern back in order. I am not good like this…_

Despite feeling the urge to just go back to bed, Max just noted down what details he had from the call and decided to make a start for the day.

 _Still need to meetup with Philips again, and then there's the matter of…_

"What the hell?" Max said as he turned and spotted the main desk in the centre of the office, and the state it was in.

Nearly the entire surface of the desk had been covered with yellow sticky notes.

"What the? Who…?" Max said in a bewildered voice as he walked up to the desk and looked over the ocean of sticky notes.

They were all notes on the case. Random little points on the case, written down and stuck randomly to the desk.

"Weight of each box, number of gel packets in each box, address of warehouse, case number of the police investigation…. Did I do this?"

Max thought back to the previous night.

 _I came in, cleaned the place up, cleaning myself up... then… Oh yeah. I wanted to note down some things on the case whilst they were fresh._

It all came back to him. He had wanted, despite the late hour, to try and organise all the stuff he had on the case… admittedly there wasn't much but Max remembered feeling pretty full of himself the night before and feeling he needed to 'organise' himself like a "proper" detective.

He remembered first trying to put all the details up on the office board, and put pins and lines between them all like the setup Flint had in his office. That didn't feel quite right to Max, who felt he was just putting lines between facts in the case for no real reason. Then he thought about using Sam's method of organising a case… but then he remembered that just involved putting everything in a box in his coat.

 _And then…. then I just went 'the hell with it', got the pad of sticky notes and put everything to do with the case on each one and… just stuck them to the desk… was I drinking last night?_

The 'organisational system' from what Max could see now, seemed to be just a chaotic mess of random pieces of the case. There didn't seem to be…

 _Oh yeah, I did it on purpose_ , Max recalled. _I put all this crap out in a random mess because, only then did it all click._

And it did. Looking down again at all the details of the case, Max instinctive felt more sure about the details and their relationships with each then if he had put them together in any specific order. The chaos of it all did, in a weird undefinable way, seem to help

 _God, how messed up is my brain_ , Max thought, picking up the odd sticky note and putting it back down. _Well, it didn't look pretty but can't think of a good reason to put all this away._

It was then Max looked up at the two notes that had been stuck to the desk lamp. One mentioning the 'Hiding Hole' and the other the 'Cool Nail'.

 _The Nail,_ Max thought as picked up the sticky note and nail itself which was laying beneath the lamp light. _Still need to chase up on this. Need some… science done to it. Could ask Momma Bosco, but... there is the other notably science savvy girl I know. And it has been a while since we properly spoke_

And, mind made up, Max made an appointment with the president of Egghead Industries.

An hour later, with the nail stored in a paper bag on the Desoto passenger seat, Max drove through the entrance to main headquarters of EGI. As Max parked the care and fished out the bag, he looked up at the building.

The building was not like any other in the city. Instead of the typical tall square structures that rose up into the sky, EGI headquarters was more of a… well… it was more like…

… OK, it was a skull. There was not point being vague on its shape. It was a giant skull. The structure was made of white painted metal and the only windows he could see were for the two giant red glow eyes. Looking at it, Max imagined whoever was hired to be the architect for the building had simply been handed a human skull and told "this isn't for inspiration, it's the blueprint". It practically screamed "Subtlety is for cowards".

Max, like the other employees used to the overwhelming sight, walked confidently through the front entrance. This time not bothering with the reception desk, Max walked straight to the elevator and selected the top floor. This had not been his first visit to the building so he had no problem navigating the corridors, office space and meeting rooms, eventually ending up outside the double doors to the CEO's office.

Max walked out, through the open hallways, office space and meeting rooms, right to the end double door. A PA with his office next to the main doors stepped in front of Max to bar his way.

"Hello Sir. Do you have an appointment?" He said in thick, rich British accent that made Max instantly think of an old style English Manor Butler. It held the same pompous tone Max associated with Butler's as well. Like he was holding back the word "Riffraff"

Max, deciding to show some restraint and also not in the mood to freak out this pen pusher, just said "Tell her Max from the Freelance Police is here"

To Max's surprise the PA's demeanour instantly changed from acerbic to welcoming.

"A, Mr Maximillian. Do beg my pardon. Please go right in."

 _Huh, must be on a short list or something._

And with that, Max walked through the double doors and into the largest office he had ever been in. It could easily fit 10 copies of his own office, with room to spare. Also whilst the design for the inside of the building returned to something similar to a normal working office building, this office went right back to the dark and evil skull vide. All the floor was black marble, with gothic pillars lining the path to the imposing looking desk at the end of the office. A desk by the way outlined by a giant glowing red window.

 _Oh I see. It's one of the Skull's eyes. Very cool._ Max thought as he followed the path.

"I was wondering when you would visit the new office Max" Came a female voice from the chair behind the desk. The chair was, of course, turned away from Max.

"Please, please, please tell me you have a white cat with you" Max begged as he got to the desk and waited for the inevitable dramatic swivel. "Actually, wait, wait. Don't turn. First let's do the lines… um… Oh yeah." Max cleared his throat and said in his best Sean Connery impression "Do you expect me to talk"

An audible sigh came from the chair as (as Max hoped) the chair did a slow turn to reveal…!

… no one. "Um, what?" Max said as he stared at the vacant seat.

"By the way" Came a soft voice to Max's right shoulder, causing him to yelp and jump back. "That lines from Goldfinger. The whole evil lair and swivel chair is more Blofeld"

Max turned, getting his breath back as he stared up at who had snuck up on him. There stood the CEO of EGI, Egghead Industries. She stood a full 6 feet tall, towering over Max. Looking completely out of place in the office, instead of wearing something business like or dark and foreboding, she had on green hoody with a checkered red and blue skirt.

"Hello Max" She said smiling, pinching one of his ears affectionately.

Max, who usually would let no one get away with petting him without losing 2-4 limbs (depending on whether he disliked the contact or just wanted to send a warning), just grinned his shark tooth grin.

"Hey there, Geek"


	11. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It had been years since The Geek, or Darla Gugenheek, had been housed in the basement underneath the apartment complex of Sam and Max. The hidden member of the Freelance Police, Darla's role had been a simple one. The Geek had been their mechanic. It had been many years ago when Sam and Max had dragged (literally) their beloved Desoto to their local garage and had been told frankly the car was no longer just a write-off, but a simple paper weight. An incident involving a rocket propelled grenade had left the body of the car resembling the peel of a banana. The engine was not actually gone, but instead had liquefied and fused with the rest of the important parts of the car. The duo had been told flatly that it would take a genius to fix the thing… but instead of interpreting the comment as "your car is gone, buy a new one, you idiots" the pair had taken the statement literally. So they simply went out and found one.

"So" Darla asked as she turned off the interdimensional portal she had made for her science fair. "You want me to… fix your car?"

"Yes, that's about the size of it" Sam replied, slowly dragging his leg out of the quickly closing portal.

"And why should I bother doing something so… mundane" Darla asked, showing no interest in the potential job

"Because if you don't, we will hang you up by you-" Max began, already fishing up one of his elaborate threats before being cut off.

"Ease up, knuckle-head. I have a feeling one of your colourful and convoluted threats won't help us her little buddy" Sam said in his usual easy going tone.

"Not with that attitude Sam" Max muttered sullenly

"Ok listen" Sam said, turning back to the now bored looking genius girl. "We are in need of someone with extra ordinary skills in order to get our beloved car back to operating condition. You have just ripped a hole in the fabric of space/time in order to win a prize for your schools science fair. That fragment disregard for safety or common sense leads me to believe you are a perfect fit for our organisation."

Darla just shook her head as she started packing away her display "Ok, listen. You two seem nice"

"And you seem to have a bastardized definition of the word 'nice''" Max cut in before Sam casually wrapped his arm around Max's mouth, cutting him off.

"But" Darla continued irritably "I don't see anything in this for me"

"Ah, I think we can persuade you, if you are willing to come out to the car with us" Sam replied cheerfully.

"… OK, I'm not even going to go into the whole 'candy from strangers' but…"

"It's OK, we are cops after all" Sam added as he lead Darla to the Desoto.

Upon leaving the school and seeing what remained of the car, Darla just recoiled "OK, I know you aren't going to kidnap me… at least not in that thing. How did you get it here?" She said, though still hesitantly following.

"Sam is part Husky" Max said, nodding to the harness setup in front of the car.

"And Max is part sadist" Sam said irritably, nodding to the whip, coiled around the rear view mirror.

"Ok… I can see why you need me. I can only assume this thing is a car based on its rough shape, but even that's taking a leap of faith. What do you have that would interest me?"

And as if in answer to the question, Sam went round to the back of the car and flipped the boot open. Darla stood there, looking down in silence for a solid ten seconds before she looked back at Sam and held out her hand. "Ok. I think we can come to an arrangement"

"Stupendous" Sam and Max said, taking Darla's hand in each of their own, shaking it over the small mountain of bank notes littering the Desoto's boot.

It was probably one of the more common misconceptions people had about the Freelance Police. That they were usually broke, only just managing to pay for their cheap junk food and small one room apartment by taking the strange work provided to them by the 'Commissioner'. And that had been the case when the duo had first started. The money they received from their employer would cover the costs of their rent, water, power, car and food, with only just enough left over to cover luxuries, like bullets.

However the one things people never question was, when Sam and Max dealt with one maniacal evil doer with plans to take over or destroy their city, county, state or even world, what happened to the bad guy's money. Not the money assets stored in banks or stock and trade, but the actual money the bad guys had at their immediate disposal.

It was amazing the number of individuals who made the jump from plain day to day villainy, to the eccentric leagues of super villainy, who suddenly decided they needed all the vast capital they would require to build their empire to not be stored in banks for ease of access but instead in cloth sacks with dollar signs on it, hidden behind some secret door in their lair.

Because of this, it was not uncommon for the crime fighting duo to deal with whatever evil organisation happened to appear on their radar that week and suddenly find vast amounts of ready available cash, right there for the taking in front of them.

… And so, of course, they took it. It wasn't illegal to steal from criminals, was it? (Despite being told repeatedly that it was, the pair still argued it was grey area)

This sudden influx of cash didn't make the Freelance Police wealthy. They never kept the money long enough to be considered wealthy. They would either lose it when gambling at the Inventory, pay exorbitant prices for useless tech from their local convince store owner, Bosco, or throw it in a cupboard and forget about it. And that's when Darla, or The Geek, came in.

The deal was a simple one. She would act as their resident genius if they would simply hand over a cut of the money recovered from each of their more financially successfully missions. She would keep the Desoto running and even improve it (to the point where the car could somehow travel underwater or even go to exotic locations, such as the moon) and even make the odd gadget.

The deal had though come with a time limit. Darla (or The Geek as she had been named by the team) would save and invest the money she took it for the end purpose for starting her own tech firm. She had made that clear from the start and even when the day finally came when she told the duo she had enough stored capital to make the big leap, there had been no ill feelings between the three.

The Geek had left them with a car that despite its decrepit exterior, was capable of taking the punishment of nearly anything the duo could put it through along with an underground warehouse full of random tech the, now, young lady had produced over the years.

And that had been that. The Geek left to found Egghead Industries, though still keeping in contact with the duo, whilst the pair went back into their old habits of buying overpriced junk from Bosco whenever the job required it.

The last Max had seen of The Geek had been only a few weeks prior, when she heard of the news of Sam. It hadn't been a tear-filled reunion. In fact all she had done when she walked into the office was sit next to Max. They sat there, over the course of an entire, not saying a word. Max hadn't known what to say, still not really all there, and Darla hadn't pressed Max. She had just asked is Max at the end if he needed anything, if she should stay, and Max just shook his head, staring aimlessly at the wall. And that had been it.

To Max's surprise, Darla leaned down and picked him up in a rib crushing bear hug.

"It's good to see you're no longer zombified" The Geek said, still in her usual dead pan voice, despite the display of affection.

Max giggled at the excessive force being applied to his sternum (Max had a unique nervous system which took some neural signals like extreme pain and translated it to the feeling of being tickled) and said "Geek. You are looking particularly hipster this fine morning"

Darla dropped Max down and sighed. "It is good to see you about Max. I didn't know when you would eventually visit"

Max was not exactly taken surprised at Geek's behaviour, but he did note she wasn't acting the same way as he remembered her. Physically, The Geek hadn't really changed all that much. She still wore her red hair the same way, still short, not passing her shoulders. Her clothing as well didn't seem to have evolved since the day she left, still a green buttoned top with a short checkered dress with the same green sandals. To Max's eye, really all that had changed was her height. Originally, in her pre-teens she stood at the same level as Max. Now she towered above him at a height of nearly 6".

What had changed though was how she acted. Originally, despite her youth, The Geek held a level of cynicism for those around her that bordered, like her intellect, on the genius. Nothing Sam or Max could do could get her to respond to anything save for a dismissive shrug or that dreadful way she folded her arms and looked at you as if waiting for a punchline that would never come.

Now though Darla seemed to be openly happy to see Max. Max in fact couldn't remember ever before getting an open display of affection from the girl, saved the time she used pepper spray on him when he jumped up on her with shaving cream in his mouth, pretending to have rabies.

"You seem... chipper" Max said wearily.

"Oh it's the job…" The Geek replied, seeming to lose some of her good humour. "I know I'm only 18, but I feel I am allowed to say… I miss the good old days"

As she slumped into her chair Max followed around the monster of a desk she used and hoped onto on corner, just so he could speak to her eye to eye "What the problem. Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Yeah. And it has been successful since I founded it, but…well you guys had an affect on me" The Geek said, pointing an accusing finger at Max

"Us? What did we do?"

"You made things SO exiting! So weird and zany…"

"I prefer the term unpredictable if it's all the same to you" Max said indignantly.

"See" Darla said, pointing again at Max as if he had proved her point, "that's what I mean. At least you guys didn't take everything so seriously."

"I thought you liked 'serious'. You never seemed to respond to our whacky antics when you lived below us" Max said, leafing through the boring looking documents littering her desk.

"I didn't. I always felt I had to act the professional one when I was with you too. Now I'm running a multinational cooperation, it's completely reversed! I feel I'm the only one around her that has any imagination"

The geek turned and indicated the giant red glass frame behind her "When I put forward the plans for the new building, had it constructed secretly and finally got everyone relocated here, you know what my employees reactions were?"

Max shook his head, enjoying seeing so good old fashion frustration coming from The Geek.

"Nothing. I swear, I watched them from here and saw them, in unison, all shrug and walk in like drones. So either every employee I have is secretly a zombie or mindless clone, or you guys corrupted me" The Geek said, again pointing an accusing finger and Max.

The whole thing was not an actual accusation. Max could tell this was just friendly banter, but still… having the Geek keep saying "you guys"…

Just noticing the forlorn expression creep on Max's face, The Geek dropped the fake anger and said in a sympathetic voice "I'm sorry Max… I guess things aren't very silly anymore, for either of us"

Max, not wanting to turn the atmosphere morbid, quickly changed the conversation "Anyway, how did you do that trick were you snuck up on me"

The Geek, as if to answer, flipped a button on a her chair. Instantly the seat of the chair snapped down as a hole appeared beneath her. In a practised motion, The Geek let herself fall into the hole which closed behind her, just as the chair returned to normal. Max looked on and back over to the office just in time to see The Geek pop out of another hole in the floor, right behind where Max had been standing.

"Why do you need something like that?" Max said, though he didn't bother to hide how cool the system looked.

"Honestly, boredom. When I get guys come in here, especially new guys, I do it to scare the hell out of them. It's why I designed the room this way" The Geek answered whilst indicating back to the main office design. All the pillars and black marble. To someone coming in here to see their boss for the first time, the place did have an imposing look to it.

Not bothering to ask permission, Max instantly jumped into The Geeks chair and flipped the same button he saw her push. As the seat disappeared beneath him, to be replaced with a black hole, Max screamed "Cannon Balllllllll!" as his little form disappeared from the Geek's view.

Darla, taking one careful step back, waited for the second to pass as Max to shot out in front of her. Not bothering to catch him, Darla watched as Max performed a summersault in mid-air and landed flat on his back, still giggling madly.

"Again!" He shouted as he got back to his feet.

"I'm glad you are enjoying yourself Max, but no." The Geek said as she walked back to her chair and seated herself.

"Spoilsport. Anyway, I'm sorry I have visited recently. And though I would love to spend my time hassling you for old time sake and unhinging your staff, I'm here on business."

"Business? What? Oh, please don't tell me you are investigating EGI, Max." The Geek said, looking generally worried.

"What? No. And why the concern. Worried I will find all those corporate skeletons you have hanging in your walk in closet?" Max said, grinning evilly.

"No, not at all. Just I remember what happens to most places the Freelance Police investigates. I would be lucky if this place only got demolished."

"Oh you flatter you" Max said blushing. "But no. I'm here about the factory break in. You know, the one you hired me for"

A look of complete puzzlement appeared on The Geek's face before realisation dawned. "Oh, that place… but Max, I didn't hire you for the break in."

Now it was Max's turn to be confused. "Wait, you didn't? But I got a call from the factory guy telling me that EGI asked me to look into the break in. I assumed you-"

The Geek held up a hand to interrupt Max. "Wait…I think I know what happened… You are on the list of people to be told about the break but someone along the way probably noticed you were a detective and guessed we wanted to hire you."

"Wait, again the adorable rabbit is confused. What list?" Max asked.

"All shareholders need to be informed when police investigation is called in on one of our financial holdings, Max" Darla answered.

"Oh… wait, what? Shareholder? I'm a shareholder?" Max asked, getting more and more confused.

"Oh for the love of… yes Max. You are a major shareholder in EGI. That was part of the deal I made with you guys when I joined you. You would get 10% of the company I started when I left…. don't tell me, you don't even know about the dividends, right?"

"I'm going to say yes, because I am a compulsive liar" Max said boldly

"I should have known. You and Sam's ability to handle money is… I'm trying to think of a word worse them appalling"

"Synonyms for appalling include: dreadful, horrifying, terrifying and (my favourite) Hideous!" Max finished this with a wide monstrous expression, for emphasis.

"Yes, well, all of those combined. It's like you treat real money like Monopoly money."

"If you knew what happened the one time me and Sam played Monopoly, you wouldn't use that name likely."

"Anyway, Max. I didn't hire you for the job… I honestly thought it would be a bit boring for you"

"Well so far I've found in that warehouse a magic or holographic veil that was a hiding a pit dug out by something that can probable bench press tanker trucks. And that's just after 2 visits"

"Ok. So all hopes of this being a normal day to day robbery are out the window" The Geek said, slumping into her chair.

"Come on Geek. You said you were bored. And I just need one little thing" Max said, walking over to the desk and actually jumping into her lap.

"Alright" The geek said, who unintentionally started to pet Max like a cat. "What do you need?"

"I need Science!" Max said, leaning into the petting.

"You have soft hands…" Max murmured before continuing "Anyway, I got this claw from the scene. I think it came from the thing that ripped up your warehouse and some of the New York sewer system. Any chance you can… I dunno, science it, to get me some information" Max asked as he handed the claw he had taken from the pit.

Darla looked over the claw, one eye brow raised before looked back at Max "Um… we do have a lab which works on DNA sequencing… Ok. I will have a look. And you are right, I am bored. This might be a good distraction"

"Perfect! Now all I need to do is… wait, what's the time?" Max said quickly

"Nearly 3" The Geek answered

"Dammit. I'm late to my therapist" Max said, preparing to get off of The Geek's lap. However, before he can move, The Geek instantly wrapped her arms around him, barring his escape.

"Wow, wow, wow. Hold on… you have a therapist?!" The Geek asked in utter shock.

"Yeah" Max said easily, despite being held awkwardly in the arms of The Geek. "Need to get approval in order to get more jobs from the Commissioner."

"Oh…. Still, the idea of you sitting there revealing the inner workings of your personality…"

"What about it?" Max asked, trying in vain to get free of the Geeks iron grasp.

"I'm just worried about your therapist" The Geek said flatly.

Max instantly blushed and smiled up at The Geek "Oh, you sweet talker, you" Max said, squirming around The Geeks embrace and returning it gleefully, before jumping off her lap and running for the door.


	12. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

One hours later, after a mad sprint and equally mad driving spree, Max was once again sitting in the office of Doctor Philip Jakes.

"Well, I am glad to see you are in such good spirits Max" Philip said, still sipping his home made coffee behind his kitchen counter.

"Yeah" Max said in agreement, mirroring the action.

"Well, if you don't mind, I wanted to talk about your past. Particularly, on the early cases you and Sam first took as Freelance Policemen"

"Um, Ok. Sure. Don't know what there's to tell though." Max said, still surprised the doctor wasn't asking him to go through the events of three weeks ago.

"Well start from the very beginning. How did you two become Freelance Policemen?"

Max thought for a moment. His memory was not one of his better character traits and trying to go back to previous cases was not easy for him. It wasn't that he led an uninteresting, forgetful life. The opposite really. His last official case had him go through time and go to hell and the previous case had him deal with a psychic bacteria alien trying to fill the world with rainbows and sunshine…. How was he supposed to keep track of things when that was his typical case load?

But after some time drudging through his unused memories, he did recall when they had first started.

"Yeah, I remember how we started. Me and Sam had just finished school, and at that point we were already dead set on becoming policemen. I remember we had talked about it for years when we were kids, us thinking up the most over the top, stupid cases we would take when we are older." Max took a sip of Philip's homemade coffee.

"Anyway, we took the exam… didn't make it." Max said dismissively

"Oh, and why it that?" Philip asked

"The marksmanship part. Sam failed to hit the target once and I…. well I remember being told I got a bit excited when I got a hold of the gun, so… yeah. We didn't get in"

Max shrugged. "Sam didn't take it well. I remember him locking himself in his room for a few days. At first I thought he was just sulking, just sitting in there, in his own little world. Then on the 3rd day, he just comes out and says "Little buddy, I've got a plan""

"The Freelance Police?" Philip guessed.

"Not really. Not at first anyway. He figured though, if we couldn't get hired into the police force, we would just save ourselves the time and just call ourselves detectives." He took another sip of coffee before continuing "Private detectives that is. We pooled our money, hired out a tiny office space and set ourselves up"

"… That was the plan?" Philip asked, obviously not sure such a start to their career had been such a well thought out one.

"Pretty much. I remember Sam being manic about the whole thing. After we bought the office space and office supplies, we had just enough left over for some cheap advertising and a food supply consisting entirely of pot noodles. I didn't care much. I was just happy to see Sam engaged in something…" Max then grimaced "…up until we got our first job…"

 _Many years ago_

"Thank you again for taking the job, gentlemen. I look forward to hearing of your progress" Came the rich, patronise tone the lady standing before the newly formed crime fighting duo, Sam and Max – Private Investigation Services.

"And thank you for putting your trust in us mam. You will not regret-" Sam said, trying his best to sound professional before the client just walked out and shut the door on Sam's statement.

Despite this, Sam looked over, smiling down at his partner Max. His partner, who prior to meeting the client, he had forced into wearing a full work office suit with plain dull tie with large but tight fitting plain work shoes. Max almost looked respectable, if you weren't looking directly at him, that is. "See Max. Five minutes with the sign up and we already have a client. This is more than we could have hoped for."

"Oh I don't know" said the incredibly irate Max, still standing awkwardly in clothes he desperately wanted to rip off and revel in his nudity. "We could have gotten a case that DIDN'T suck"

"Oh Max, don't be so tetchy" Sam said, trying to mollify the possible tantrum he thought might occur from his friend.

"Sam, we've been friends for a good long time. And you know me. I don't like being dressed in a suit…" Max said, then paused for a second and added "… or anything for that matter. But I am willing to suppress my need to enrich the world with my perfect hunky rabbit body, for our friendship. I am also willing to spend the next…" Max stopped and went over to a cupboard stocked to the brim with the cheapest near expired pot noodles they could find for their remaining budget.

"…the next year eating what looks like watered cardboard in the shape of pasta strips. But you really want our first job we work on together… to be to find a cat?"

"To coin a phrase as old as some of those pot noodles Max, 'Beggars can't be choosers'. We need to work on something at least to A) get some much needed money in and B) to start getting word of mouth going about us. One client telling her friends that a particular Dog and Rabbit PI team are both reliable and affordable might be all the start-up we need in order to get a good client base running." Sam explained

"But a cat?! We hate cats!" Max said, as if that countered everything Sam had just pointed out

"What makes you think I hate cats?" Sam asked.

"Um… because you're a dog?" Max answered

"That's racist. Just because I am of the canine persuasion, does not mean I have an inherent dislike of those of the feline persuasion." Sam countered indignantly.

"… OK, but do you?" Max asked simply.

"… Well yes, I hate the self-righteous fur balls, but that's beside the point" Sam answered coolly.

"Come on Sam. When I went with you on this, I thought we would be doing… I don't know. Hunting down mad scientists, blasting away at armies of robotic minions, beating up human shaped colonies of alien bacteria trying to take over the world through mind control. That sort of thing"

"You and your deranged imagination Max. The real world is not like that. Listen" Sam said as he knelt down and rested a paw on Max's well-tailored shoulder. "This is the real world Max. We aren't going to get any work leading to the types of insane situations like you just mentioned. We need to be realistic."

"We are private detectives Max. So most likely we are only going to get jobs like the one we just received. Mundane jobs which, if we are lucky, will lead into work which is slightly more engaging, like investigating the possibility of cheating spouses, or recovering stolen goods."

Sam stood up and reached for his fedora. "Me failing the police force entry exam was a big eye opener Max. We are not going to get all those whacky adventures we dreamed up when we were kids just because we want to Max. Some things we just aren't meant to be… so come. Let's get out there and get that cat"

Noticing Max raise his hand to ask a question Sam instantly said "And yes, preferably alive"

"Dammit" Max muttered as he followed Sam out the door. "This jobs gonna be no fun…"

 _Five hours later_

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Max screamed hysterically, laughter causing him to go a deep shade of red and start to gasp for breath.

"You quit done, chuckle head" Sam asked, the irritation in his voice being drowned out by his partner's laughter.

"Hahah-I'm sorry, (giggle), I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Max said, trying but failing to stifle the giggles.

"Is there something wrong with your little friend?" Asked the man standing above the two detectives, loaming over them from a raised platform.

"Nothing major, um… Doctor Arachnid was it? I think he's just finding the hoard of trained killer spiders a little ticklish" Sam said, trying to dislodge a number of the creeping arachnids of himself.

"A collection of spiders is a cluster or clutter, not a hoard. But it matters not. I do not know how you stumbled onto my plan to gain control of the vast population of spiders in New York City by the release a pheromone based aerosol agent into the atmosphere" The Doctor Arachnid said before pausing for a gasp of air. "But you have stopped nothing! Soon, when the agent falls upon the city, every arachnid will mutate, changing from the underappreciated insect killers that keep so many people's homes clear of flies, beetles and other small pests… into venomous killing machines, under MY CONTR- Would you stop laughing!"

"I'm sorry" Max repeated, tears now streaming down his face as the laughter kept bubbling up. He looked over at Sam, who was, despite the cluster of spiders crawling up his legs, looking more annoyed at Max then at their current situation.

"This isn't funny, Max" Sam said accusingly.

This just gave Max a fresh bout of laughter. "Oh Max. We have to live in the real world." Max said after recovering, in his best impression of Sam.

"Yes, yes, very funny. I was wrong. Haha. I'm pretty sure I cannot move not only because of the dangerous spiders around me but in how steeped in irony I am." Sam said bitterly

He turned over to face Max, still un-phased by the small collection of spiders hanging off the brim of his fedora making it look like an Australian Cork hat.

"But in my defence, how was I to know that the cat our client had set us up to find had already been killed by the good doctor here, in order to test the venom for his new batch of killer 8 legged minions. I am still amazed we were able to track down the 'cluster' of spiders with that convenient spider tracking device that friendly convenience store owner supplied us with."

The laughter stopping abruptly, Max turned back to Sam to say, in a less friendly voice, "That 'spider-tracking' device that Bosco sold us has put us in debt of over $10,000… and for what? A weasel on a leash? I told you he would rip us off"

"A shrew, little buddy. One of the natural hunters of the spider. And It worked didn't it" Sam said. "Shame the little guy ran for it when he saw all these creepy crawlies."

The two stopped chatting as Doctor Spider, standing over the two in his black opera clock and top hat, cleared his voice loudly. Once he was sure he had their attention, he bellowed "You can try to waste what little time you have left, you two…" As is breaking character, the deep booming voice of Doctor Arachnid was suddenly replaced with a higher pitched croaky voice asking "I'm sorry, what were your names again?"

"I'm Sam, this is Max" Sam said easily.

"Nice to meet you" Max also answered.

"Right, thanks" The Doctor said before returned to his booming speech. "You Sam and Max, but it is pointless. I have perfected the pheromone dispenser and neither of you will have no chance to escape my hoard- sorry, cluster of mind control spider minions. As soon as I click my fingers they will mercilessly bite down up you. You will be corpses within seconds" And with that, he held his hand out, two fingers primed to snap together.

"… I'm trying to think of anything to make this more cliché…. Nope, nothings coming to me." Max said happily.

"Despite our dire situation, I have the distinct impression you are enjoying this, Max" Sam said dryly.

"And you're not?" Max said excitedly, swinging his feet happily, inadvertently crushing a few spiders.

"Careful there. We have been exceptionally lucky so far these little critters haven't decided to plunge their venom soaked fangs into us" Sam said, shifting his head to move one particularly pesky spider off his shoulder.

"That is not luck but me restraining them. But no longer. It is a shame neither of you will see the glorious day when my eight legged children claim this foul city for themselves, but alas, you must die. Farewell Sam and –"

"Wow, is he milking this for all its worth" Max interrupted.

"Try to be understanding Max. This is a pretty big day for him. And the revealing of a villain's plan is, from what I have heard, a time honoured tradition." Sam countered, both not completely ignoring the confused villain.

"Yeah but this is just gloating. He did the evil plan reveal earlier." Max countered back.

"True, true, but from what I understand this is simple an extension -"

"ENOUGH! Enough of this foolishness. Now die, Sam and Max!" And with that, and an over dramatic flourish, Doctor Arachnid snapped his fingers. In an instant, all the thousands of spiders crawling on the floor around the crime fighting duo moved. All of them, like a black creeping wave, crawled over the pair, covering them from head to toe. All that could be seen was a dog and rabbit shaped moving collection of writhing spiders, all aggressively... doing nothing.

"Um, Sam?" Max said, trying to get his partners attention without opening his mouth.

"Yes, little buddy?" Sam answered, muttering his reply as well.

"Shouldn't we have a supremely large dose of spider venom running through our veins, paralysing our body and, I assume, stopping our hearts by now?" Max asked.

"One would think little buddy, but now I have a good look at these little critters whilst they rub aggressively against my eyeballs, I don't see them biting me" Sam said, folding his spider covered arms in confusion.

"Wait, what?" Came the croaky voice of Doctor Arachnid, now stumbling down his platform desperately. He looked down at one of the spiders crawling absently on the floor and shouted "Impossible! The mutation should have given these house spiders' venom sacks containing a toxin powerful enough to kill a fully grown elephant!"

"Ah, I see" Sam said, snapping his fingers in realisation, inadvertently crushing a few spiders. "Though you have given these spiders a powerful venom, if you have mutated the common house spider, as you have just claimed, they will be unable to inject said venom. A house spiders fangs generally are not long enough to piece a person's skin."

"Wow, you mean like the famous daddy long legs whose lack of fangs makes their fatal venom one of nature's practical jokes" Max said, still appearing to the world as a wriggling rabbit shaped black mass of creepy crawlies.

"That Max is a commonly passed on urban legend" Sam replied, moving over to the shocked Doctor Arachnid, and through the mass of spiders, produced a set of hand cuffs.

"Wow, where did you gain such vast knowledge on the subject of arthropods Sam?" Max asked, now bored of his clinging friends and systematically slapping waves of the little critters off.

"QI actually"

 _Back to present day_

Max took a final sip of his coffee before setting it down. "And that's how our first job went. Technically we failed as the cat was dead and the client wanted it found alive, but we were happy"

Philip stood there, his own now cold coffee forgotten about as he stared at Max, mouth hanging open. Eventually he said "…that was your first job?"

"If you want proof, it was in the papers. Even have a copy stored away, as a souvenir." Max said happily, inwardly whooping for joy at finally getting a shocked reaction from the psychiatrist.

"Oh, no. I don't believe you are lying or making things up but… my word. And this is how things have always been for the two of you?"

"Yeah. Admittedly, it's not always that over the top, but a good number are." Max answered wistfully.

"I see" Philip answered simply, before he looked down at his watch. "Well that is good timing. We have just about finished this session."

Max shrugged, handing over the cup and getting off the stool.

"I am still amazed by this Max. Based on your story just now, and what I know of your past cases. You seem to be a magnet for the odd and fantastic"

Max nodded "Yeah. We gathered that and just accepted it. It's because of that we eventually got into contact with the Commissioner. He offered us the job of 'Freelance Police' if we would take the more… odd cases that came through the station. The cases he and no one else wanted anything to do with. And that's how we got to where we were…"

Philip nodded and asked "And you think this case might be the same sort of work you are used to?"

Max grinned happily "Can only hope."

Philip mused as he walked Max to his desk to work out another date for their next session. "So what makes this one strange?"

Max pondered on this, wondering which part seemed the oddest. The tunnel being carved out did seem odd but…

"I would say this illusion I saw. There was this hole in the floor, but no one could see it. Whenever anyone went near it, they would just walk around it, as if part of them knew it was there, but not all of them. And when I nearly fell into it, the hole just appeared. Don't have a clue how to handle that"

Philip looked pensive for a second before asking "So you do not know the cause of this illusion?"

Max shook his head "Nope. Just have a feeling it's something… mystical or something like that."

"And do you know someone who is an expert on the mystic?" Philip asked, noting down a date for the next day and confirming it with Max.

Max nodded to the date and thought for a second before answering.

"There's plenty of people I've met over the years who know about that stuff, but honestly most probably won't be inclined to help me."

"No one you know who is magically capable and doesn't hate you?"

 _He seems pretty accepting of all this_ , Max thought. "Weird, of the people I know, those that go into the first list outnumber the people I would put in the second. Someone in both lists…. I don't know."

Max had been so fixated on the claw and meeting with Geek that he had forgotten about the hole and how to look into it. He assumed he would just find out about it automatically when he started meeting random people who turned out to be involved with the case, as it usually turned out.

But now that he thought about it, he should probably look into the mystic part of this, or at least try and eliminate it. For all he knew, so weird futuristic science could be the cause…. Or, god forbid, alien science.

Max actually shivered a little at the thought of another alien being involved. His involvement with the last alien he knew… well, that was complicated.

"I'll look into it" Max just said as he waved goodbye to the Doctor and stepped out.

He walked from the office, passing the annoying grandfather clock, still ticking as if to goad him. Ignore the timepiece, Max went through the building which the doctor had setup his business in, thinking to himself.

There had to be someone he could ask about that hole... He didn't know many people associated with the occult. And someone he could at least vaguely trust.

The thought kept bothering Max all the way down to the car park, until it suddenly hit him. Yog-Soggoth. That weird alien squid thing attached to… what's-its-name… Papierwaite! The guy at the museum. They were into the sort of c**p that might explain what happened at the warehouse.

Suddenly in a good mood again, Max walked over to where the Desoto was parked, ready to head over to the Museum of Mostly Natural History… only….

"Where's my car?" Max said, sudden good mood being replaced with a dark urge to rip apart every air breather in a 20 mile radius.

Someone has taken the Desoto… someone has stolen my car… someone is going to face the MOST- "oh wait, there it is", Max said, turning to his left and seeing the distinct black and white paint job of the Desoto… coming right at him.

The Desoto landed directly on-top of Max, slamming to the asphalt with a horrible jarring sound of the under body scrapping against the pavement.

As the noise of the violent crash settled and the car wobbled for a few seconds as the suspension steadied it, there was a sudden silence in the car park… broken suddenly by Max jumping up, out of the bonnet of the car, Lugar in hand waving it madly around him

"WHO HAS THE B**LS!?" He shouted at everything around him

"Poocha Chubugga!" Came a small, animal like voice from a dark ally. Max turned for the source, before he was suddenly thrown down into the car, something suddenly on him and hitting him… and hitting him HARD.

Max felt four quick and horribly strong blows land on him, the last actually launching him out of the car.

Slamming hard into a nearby car, Max got up shakily and looked over at his assailant. Standing atop the bonnet of the Desoto, Max looked in utter confusion at the small fluffy blue teddy bear like thing looking back at him. The thing looked only a couple feet tall, had two sets of arms, a giant pair of mouse like ears and a pair of antennas on his head… and a collar?

Max noticed the little blue alien koala thing smiling down at him, displaying an impressive razor tooth filled grin, much like his own. He also brought out a collection of four alien looking pistols, each held in the little guys hands, aimed directly at Max.

"Aloha" The thing said, taking aim at Max.


	13. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Max dived behind the wreckage of a 4X4 as another salvo of shots swept behind him. The fight had only been going for a couple minutes and the car pack was now a smouldering ruin, with melting cars and asphalt.

 _Whatever this little koala thing was firing, it seems to just liquefy anything it splats onto… dear god, I'm actually having to dodge and take cover like a normal person!_

Max, used to most gun fights resolving in him taking whatever high ground was available and laying waste to who below with his good old Lugar, was actually having to play it safe and avoid being shot… this was a strange option for him.

Despite this though, after seeing one of those blue glowing blasts of smudge hit one car and melt it like Alien blood, he didn't really feel like testing super rabbit ability to take near unlimited punishment. Instead he had spent the last couple minutes running from one car to another, laying pop shots at the cackling blue thing.

He did notice the bullets annoy the little guy, causing him to stop firing and swear in that weird dialect of his. Max leaned over the blackened remains of the 4X4 he was hiding behind and took another few shots over to the guy, who was till to Max's irritation, standing atop his Desoto.

"Meega, nala kwishta!" Shouted back thing, rubbing its eyes in irritation.

"A shot in the eye annoys it?" Max, slipping another cartridge in.

 _Wait, is this how other people feel when I shoot them?... If I had any sort of empathy, this might actually make me reflect on my actions_ , Max thought as he moved out of cover and emptied the whole Lugar clip at the

"Pooama Chicky!-" Screamed the blue alien thing before a sudden explosion launched him off the car and into the side of a building. Max, through sheer luck and number of bullets had landed one shot down the barrel of one of the alien pistols the thing held, causing it to explode into a cloud of blue vapour.

"Ooka Dooka to you too!" Max shouted, walking past the Desoto, inwardly sighing with relief that the car had been undamaged.

The blue alien was still dazed, letting out weak groans as he dislodged himself from the dent in the buildings wall.

"Ok, I am pretty sure my duties as a cop prevent me from violently gunning down an unarmed suspect. But 1) I'm technically not a cop at the moment and 2) that's never really stopped me before." Max stood next to the little blue alien bear thing and aimed his gun down at the guy's head. "So if I promise to- GOD DAMMIT!" Max scream as the blue alien thing shot forward and actually bit him, hard, on the arm.

"DAMMIT, I WAS TRYING TO BE COOL THERE!" Max screamed desperately, trying with all his effort to dislodge the growling blue koala. After this failed Max, suddenly brimming with fresh energy and anger, all mixed into one adrenaline cocktail looked back to the alien "Fine, feel the love!" Max shouted as he, with his free hand, grabbed the hand of the little monster, stretched it out and dug his own fangs down. The menacing growling was suddenly replaced with a high pitched yelping sound, followed by more angry growling. Both Max and the blue alien thing looked at each other, both still holding the others arm in their jaws.

Sometime later

What followed was a solid ten minute long event that Max would later elevate to being the most stupid looking fight he had ever been in. He couldn't see anything during the time himself but the side of the blue aliens face, but he picture the image of people walking by, pausing and looking at the decimated car park and their gaze pulled to the pair of idiots, trying desperately to punch, kick or knee the other, all the while keeping their jaws firmly shut on the others arm.

It must have looked amazingly stupid. During the fight he even imagined what people would have guessed was going on to cause such a weird fight to generate. Maybe they would think that the two of them had heard about that Inuit contest of endurance but misheard the word ear with arm.

Despite all that, after so long, with Max or his new arm-biting-buddy finally realise that neither of them was actually hurting the other, Max decided to speak "Thsh ish really stfupidth (This is really stupid)"

Max broke eye contact with the blue alien thing to look down at his arm. "Thsh ishn't even hurthing anymghore. My armsf gone numbth (This isn't even hurting anymore. My arms gone numb)"

The alien finally stopped growling and look down at his own arm. Max guessed looking at his expression the same thought had passed through his mind as well.

As of one mind, both Max and the blue thing let go of the others arms and shot back, looking warily at the other.

"Ok" Max said, wiping the horrid alien drool off his arm and then wiping his own mouth to clear the taste. His partner mirrored him. "Usually I'm not picky when it comes to sudden and violent encounters, but this one sucked… mind telling me why you attacked me?"

"Mika annala chukka!" The thing said, gravelly voice still full of threat before hesitantly say "You bad guy. You give back what you took" Each word, mangled and nearly unrecognisable, but Max was able to get the gist

"Ok, no. No, you've got things the wrong way around… You" Max said, pointing directly at the alien thing before asking "Um, what's your name by the way?"

"Stitch" he replied, voice still forcing the words out, as if his vocal cords were not designed to handle anything beyond that weird alien tongue of his.

"Ok, Stitch. You attacked me… with my own car… don't know how things work where you are, but generally speaking that makes you the bad guy" Max paused as a sudden series of memories came to him from his past cases. Scenes with him behind the wheel of one car or another, cackling madly as he accelerated towards a running target and…

"Ok, there are exceptions to that" Max admitted irritably. Before he could continue however he heard the growing sounds of sirens coming from a view blocks away.

Stitch also seemed to notice the noise and gave out an irritated snarl. Before Max could do anything, Stitch jumped passed him, slamming his tiny fists hard into the side of the building Max was propped against and climbed up like a spider. After a few seconds, he was gone, leaving Max to face the music.

Or he would have, if it didn't turn out the siren was just for an ambulance passing through the area. Max made a sigh of relief. Usually, if he knew normal police were on the way to a scene of destruction he had caused, Max would make sure he was stood somewhere where he could pose proudly, for maximum affect. However, now, with him on effective probation and needing to show he wasn't insane (a hard ask when everyone knew the answer already), he didn't think it would be a good idea to be alone in a car park filled with melting wreckage.

Deciding to just leave as well, guessing the police would eventually arrive anyway, he made his way back to his car. Just as he jumped into the driver seat and looked back over the destruction he and Stitch had caused, he took notice of the bents in the brick work Stitch had left when climbing way.

"Hmm…" Without another word Max jumped back out of the car and to the back seats. After a few seconds rummaging around, he finally found what he was looking for and ran over to the holes.

As soon as Max was at eye level with the first imprint Stitch had left when leaping at the wall, he noticed that, though it was not perfect, there was enough there possibly make a print. Taking out the foam can he had in the back seat, he sprayed a blob into the centre of the whole and put his own hands in the way of the expanding foam to try and seal the hole. It wasn't perfect, as some foam escaped between his fingers but, after waiting a solid minute and then pulling the mould out, the imprint on the inside had formed perfectly.

"Not great, but something" Max said, guessing there really shouldn't be that many super strong dudes around that could smash through solid brick like Stitch had. _But why had he gone after me then? It hadn't sounded like he was trying to get rid of me for snooping around the crime scene, but for taking something myself…_

 _… doesn't matter. Can wait_ , Max thought, taking the foam imprint back with him to the car and driving away.


	14. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 _2 Hours later_

It was one of the few times that Max missed having the COP computers back in the boot of the Desoto. He would never admit that to them in person and even though they were mostly useless at everything they tried, which was kind of endearing of them, they had proven to at least be capable as satnavs. Bottom of the barrel satnavs that would show the most time consuming and traffic filled route to take, but they would get them to where they needed to go.

This journey though, to the Museum of Mostly Natural History, Max had to try and find his way by guess work. He had only been there once before, during the who Sam rampage incident, but he hadn't really paid attention to where he was at the time.

So after hours of aimlessly driving through the city, eventually stumbling upon the place by sheer luck, Max got out of the car, already irritated by the aimless driving and infuriating fight from earlier.

"Just in, describe the scene, get what you need and then out. Don't need to waste time with these weirdos" Max said quietly as he walked through the mostly barren museum for the back office.

The fact there was no security didn't surprise him. From what he remembered the guy Papierwaite saying, he was a sorcerer and the squid head, Yog-Soggoth, attached to his chest was a dark god, or something like that.

Despite this, Max confidently walked up to the back office and opened the door, not even bothering to knock. The room, which Max noticed instantly was devoid of Papierwaite or his other half, looked like a normal managers office. Filing cabinets, desk bogged down with paper work, a computer. But as this was a museum, there were also random knick-knacks around the desk and room either themed on ancient civilisations or the dark arts.

Nothing struck Max as something out of the ordinary considering whose office this was. The fact that no one was around though did irritate him. The journey had been a long one and finding the Museum empty left Max with the sudden urge to vandalise.

Fighting back the temptation to set fire to something old and irreplaceable, Max circled round the office, looking at the various items hanging on the wall: An ancient tablet he couldn't read, ancient scrolls he also couldn't read, vases on pedestals that had text on them… which again he couldn't read.

"Ok, enough sight see-" Max began before his eyes fell on the row of wall mounted animal heads. This itself was not weird. The collection seemed perfectly normal as you looked through the elk, tiger and moose heads… until you reached the last one. It was the head of a green tentacle covered squid like creature. The thing had tiny hands and a pair of beady yellow eyes staring vacantly forward…. It was Yog-Soggoth. Yog-Soggoth attached to a trophy mount, attached to the top of the wall, looking straight ahead, trying to remain perfectly still.

"Um…" Max said, walking up to the trophy mount and staring directly at the old god. "Ah…. (cough)… hello up there…"

The figure remained perfectly still, but Max wasn't fooled.

"You know real stuffed animal heads don't usually have that unique sheen on them that only comes from freshly secreted slim… You're not fooling anyone Yoggy"

To his credit Yog-Soggoth still made no move. Sighing Max jumped up, unhooking the trophy in one leap and landing with the elder god in his arms, still rigid and staring straight ahead. He act was unbroken, right up until Max took a handful of the tentacles on the elder gods face and tugged on them hard.

"Arghh, stop it, stop it" Yog-Soggoth said desperately, all pretence at being a stuffed trophy gone. The elder god vainly tried to swat at Max's hand with his tiny claws.

Max just giggled, enjoying the useless attempts the elder god made to free himself. After getting his s**t kicked in by a furry blue rat half his size, a bit of petty bulling was exactly what he needed to get his spirits up.

"Let go dammit" Yog-Soggoth shouted, voice muffled by Max still holding tight to the majority of his face tentacles. He had given up fighting and was just glaring up at Max.

"Ok" Max said, already bored with the little prank. He took the mount of the old god and placed him on the desk, resting against a stack of books so he was facing him. "So, where's the other one? And why were you hiding?"

Yog-Soggoth looked resigned to the interrogation and just sighed.

"Papierwaite is out." The god simply replied.

"But I thought you two were… I dunno… together. Literally." Max said, trying to actually picture how the small green god attached to Papierwaite and finding what he imagined horrifying. But in a good way.

"Papierwaite and myself are linked, and have been for well over a century. But the link is not a physical one. I need not be attached to Papierwaite in order to survive in this realm…. It's just nice being able to move about and have a servant available at my beck and call."

"Uh huh" Max said, nodding. "that still doesn't answer my question though"

Now Yog-Soggoth looked more embarrassed then annoyed. "Anton… has a date. We agreed in situations like this, I would remain here, covertly, so he could get some alone time… it's not an optimal situation but concessions like these help a partnership like the one we have survive in the long ru-"

"Boring!" Max said, cutting off the old god. "Don't really care. Just need information. And you seem the best source"

"Oh goody" Yog-Soggoth muttered "What do you need Max" He asked tiredly.

Max paused. He had been ready to continue his usual method of asking for help, which was to insult and bully the person every stage of the game. However…

"You don't look so happy to see me. I mean more unhappy then if I had just pulled part of your face for the fun of it. You seem pretty… anxious?" Max asked, unsure how to read the face of a thing with tentacles where covering a third of the surface of his head. "Don't remember annoying you when we last met. Was too distracted to give you my full attention"

"Yes, Sam. My condolences" Yog-Soggoth replied evenly. Max did tense at the use of the name but didn't think the comment was meant to be sarcastic.

"Anyway, no. When we met three weeks ago we had other more important things to do then get some bonding time together. But remember Max, me and Anton have met before. Your other self from another time. And that encounter has left me with a healthy sense of trepidation when handling you, Max"

Max actually brightened at that. He had freaked out an ancient god of darkness and chaos? Score! Something to mark off the bucket list.

"You look pleased with yourself, but you have no idea what happened with you in that alternate time line Max. You don't know why I am… weary to meet with you"

"You did mention this before" Max agreed, nodding at the short conversation he had mostly ignored when he had first met Anton and Yoggy. "Gonna guess you had an evil plot to take over the world and Me and Sam stopped you in the most improbably manner possible"

"Hardly" Yog-Soggoth said, sounding offended "I had no such plans to take over this world. All I wanted was the toys of power… why are you here anyway?"

Max started, just remembering why he had taken the long irritating journey out here in the first place. "Oh, found something weird at a crime scene. Thought you or your other half might be able to help"

Yog-Soggoth, realising his involvement with Max was mostly likely going to be a temporary one suddenly seemed to relax. "Oh, that's OK. What do you need? Something involving the dark arts?"

"Urgh… don't know. Might be magic. Might not be." And with that Max begin to describe the pit he had found at the warehouse, mentioning how it seemed to make people not notice it until he fell through it, where it suddenly appeared to both himself and Dorothy.

"Hmm" Yog-Soggoth mused as he scratched one of his face tentacles with his tiny claw. Max guessed that was the elder god version of someone twirling their moustache. "I will be honest. This does not sound like something the dark arts would create. Most illusions that someone like Anton or myself could create might not trick people around into avoiding the object we create or cover with our magic, but it wouldn't just disappear either if someone noticed it…"

He mused a little while longer, again scratching his tentacles absentmindedly before finishing "Pretty sure that was an illusion created by a psychic"

"Psychic?" Max asked, not really seeing a difference between one weird power source with another.

"Yes. That does sound like something a psychic could be capable of, though I'm not really that familiar with them I am afraid, so I cannot be sure" Yog-Soggoth said evenly.

"Wait, not familiar? I thought you had something to do with that psychic toy" Max said, remembering the outline of what the god said the first time they met.

"Firstly Max, the Toys of Power are my creation. Dark artefacts I made in order to appease my child, Junior. These Toys just happened to enter your dimension and just so happen to boost the powers of any psychic who uses them."

"Great. So I am after a psychic. That's something to go on. But I also need to speak to one just to confirm this… know of any?"

A very odd look came over Yog-Soggoth before he said. "Max… you are aware you are a psychic? And a powerful one at that?"

Max rolled his eyes. "One who actually knows stuff about the profession. And you just say I'm one. I've never blown up anyone's head with my mind, and I have tried, extensively."

Again the look came over the elder gods face, almost like…. Trepidation?

"Technically Max… now that I think of it, have I ever told you the whole story behind what happened with you and Sam in the other time line? I believe I mentioned it in passing before but… it might be worthwhile going over the story with you in whole"

Max just shrugged. "Sure, why not."

So, hesitantly, the propped up elder god started the story. He mentioned it from the perspective of Sam and Max, from when the whole thing started with General Skun-ka'pe arriving in their neighbourhood and Max finding the first toy.

Max listened, actually getting engaged with the story. It almost sounded like the alternative version to what happened to Max just a few weeks ago but different. He listened as Yog-Soggoth told him how he and Sam had defeated the alien, if temporarily, then finding the other toy, seeing how their descendants went on to also defeat Anton Papierwaite.

"So my grandfather kicked your boys ass? Score" Max said, feeling pride for his ancestor.

"That is what you saw Max. But I can tell you now, it was fake" Yog-Soggoth said.

"Wait, what?" Max asked, feeling a little annoyed that the little green guy had just wasted the last few minutes going through a lie.

"Those are the events you both witnessed from the toy, but I can promise you if you go to the basement of your building you will not find the skeletal remains of you and your former partner's grandfather. The remains and the memories you saw from the toy were fake. Something to keep the two of you docile so Anton could take the rest of the toys. At the same time however, when the toy box was taken, General Skun-ka'pe was freed…."

"What? What did he do" Max said, suddenly getting worried at that this giant baboon Yog-Soggoth had described had done to him whilst he was out of it.

"Well…. remove your brain… Sam awoke to find your brain removed and then, he came after us"

A horrible feeling began to sink into Max at the thought of Sam facing the same situation as he had gone through. He had joked that the two events seemed similar, but this…. Another alien who happened to arrive in that timeline happened to remove his brain, instead of Sam's…. This was actually getting weird… and not the good weird either.

So Yog-Soggoth continued. How Sam had found the brain of Sammun-Mak, how this ancient pharaoh had ended up in his body and then become god… and then not, again thanks to the combined efforts of Sam and Max.

And the story just kept on going, from them waking up, to them finding a hoard of zombie Sams, to finding out the person behind the whole thing had not infact been Papierwaite but this little dummy who was trying to summon Junior.

Yog-Soggoth went through the whole affair, finally finishing by describing how Max had turned into a giant creature terrorising the city. Max, still feeling the horrible sense of deja vu whilst Yog-Soggoth went through the story finally said "Ok, so the bad guy was this dummy guy, I became the monster… and, I'm taking a leap here…. I ended up dying… Sam kills me"

"Not quite…. Sam was not the one who killed you. You killed yourself, in order to save the city."

That took Max by surprise. The whole self-sacrifice thing had never really seemed to the sort of thing Max would associate with himself. He always like to associate himself with the guy from Doctor Strangelove, swinging his cowboy hat, whooping for joy as he rode the nuke all the way down to ground zero. For a way to go, that was style.

"And also you are wrong about Charlie Ho-tep. He was not the real master mind behind the entire sordid affair. Someone else was responsible for the entire series of events that lead to you becoming the beast, attacking the city, soon to be killed by an incoming missile strike. Someone who manipulated the general when he first arrived, Myself and Anton whilst we tried to reclaim the toys. Even Charlie played a part in the grand plan…."

Max began to look anxious but as the dramatic pause continued starting to look annoyed. He tapped his foot impatiently whilst saying "….. aaaaannnnd?"

"It was you" Yog-Soggoth said simply, pointing an accusing claw at Max.

Max looked at the offending digit for a few seconds before finally saying. "Ok…. I'm gonna need some more context to that statement before I call bull****"

"It's… complicated. As we found out when we went inside your body to-"

"Wait, what?!" Max shouted in sudden confusion and horror.

"Not important" Yog-Soggoth said dismissively. "Anyway, we were all inside you when Sam met the person responsible. He met you… or a part of you anyway. Another personality"

"Wait, I'm schizophrenic?" Max said horrified. Not horrified at the potential realisation that he was crazy. He already knew he was crazy. Crazy to Max was another word for special. But actually being told HOW he was crazy took all the mystery out of it.

"No… you mean multiple personality disorder. Schizophrenic is more you seeing things or people that aren't there. And I don't even know if what you have is some extreme version of MPD. Doesn't matter. What matters is, inside you is another person."

"What? And this guy was the bad guy the whole time?"

"Umm… again, don't know if I can say that. From what I gathered, he believed you were the bad guy. It seemed that he went through the whole scenario in order to get you to turn into a monster, so you would end up being killed."

Max just stood there, mouth moving silently as he looked down at the elder god.

"… Ok…. Ok. Let me just sum up. I have, in my head, another me who doesn't like me. And in order to kill me he… what did he do? Get a monkey alien to force me to use the toys… to get my brain stolen… to stop some ritual to summon your not so nice son… to then get me to turn into a freaky fish monster… to then get blown up…"

Max paused again, as if checked he didn't leave anything off the list before finishing "…that was his plan?"

"Ingenious, I know" Yog-Soggoth replied

"Ok, now I know you are taking the pis-"

"I honestly am not Max. From what I understand it, based on the rather odd and dangerous life you have lead, this alter ego of yours thought the only way to actually kill you was to drag you through that entire adventure. And it did work I will ad. You did die."

"And why does he want me dead? And how do you know all this if it was Sam who spoke to … me" Max said, before realising asking the question acknowledged him actually believing all this… which he didn't.

"I won't go into his reason, but when I arrived in this timeline, the first thing I did was make contact with you"

"I know, when we met three weeks ago-"

"No Max. Me and Anton arrived many weeks before that. And I mean the other you… I might not be a psychic but I have my ways. I spoke to your other half. Apparently with the toys gone he does not wish to try again at his plans. At least not for the moment"

Max just shook his head. He had come here just to get some info on that stupid hole. And suddenly it turns out he's got an evil genius in his head trying to kill him. It wasn't that it was too much to take in, but…. Actually no, that was exactly it. He had too much on his plate at the moment to bother with this rubbish.

"Well that was a great story. Not often the protagonist and the antagonist are the same guy. Nice twist. Anyway, I'd better be-"

"Max, I brought this up, not only because I thought it might be useful for you to know what happened in the other time line, but also to answer your question"

Max sighed before looking back at the god stuck to the table. "What question?"

"You asked if there is anyone who knows about the psychic world… well, as far as I know, you are the only person who has the knowledge"

"OK… so I need to interview myself?" Max said sarcastically.

"I will do you a deal. I will setup a meeting between the two of you. I can get your other half to make contact with you at some point, I think. If I do that, will you leave?"

Max just shook his head. "Fine, whatever..." And Max just turned and walked out of the office. He was already out the door before he paused and looked back into the room.

"So that's why you are so scared of me? This other dude in my head?

The god perched on the desk sighed before looking Max directly in the eye "No Max. He does not scare me. You do"

"What?" Max asked in confusion.

"I mean it. I am the father of the old gods. Their ruler. If I had access to my actual body and power, I would be able to blow this world away in a heartbeat… but despite that, you still scare me Max"

Yog-Soggoth just shook his head, almost like he was giving something up in just admitting this. "One half of you Max is something I have never sensed before. Something capable of moving beings even such as I across the board like pawns. I only felt his subtle touch on me after then events that lead to your death, but still. He is something supremely dangerous… and his entire purpose, in dragging all of us through that nightmare… had been to kill you."

Yog-Soggoth then glared back at Max. "To kill you Max…. because this creature honestly believed himself to be the hero of the story and you to be the dangerous one… That is what worries me"

Max just stood there, a deep feeling of uncertainty suddenly falling over him. Like he was only just now taking in what Yog-Soggoth had been telling him.

And with that, with Max and the old god just stared at each other, unblinking, the door slowly closed. Even as the sound of the click came and his view of the god was blocked, Max could still see that look on his face.

…not fear. But something close to it.

…dread.


	15. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Max soon found himself back in the Desoto getting ready to move. Why do I feel queasy all of a sudden, Max thought as took the keys out. After the conversation with Yog-Soggoth, at least the end part, Max was finding it hard to push down that cold feeling he had welling up in his stomach. Usually a comment on Max over how scared he made people was taken as a compliment. Something to be taken as praise or a challenge to be overcome (not to remove the feeling of fear but to expand upon it). But something about that last part had made Max feel really uncomfortable.

And Max was someone who relied on an unending feeling of self-confidence and self-assurance that was he was doing, though might not be right, would be amusing. But now, that certainty, he had in himself was starting to waver.

"God damned damned god" Max muttered in irritation, fiddling with parts of the car to try and distract himself. He turned on the radio but was met by music that instantly made him want to rip off the car's antenna. When he turned that off he fiddled with the mirrors, realising only now that he hadn't changed their positions since Sam had driven last and with their difference in height none of them pointed anywhere remotely useful.

"Screw him" Max said whilst leaning to his right to fiddle with the position with the mirror "So all the stuff that happened with Sam happened with me instead… doesn't matter… only means this is the wrong time line" Max muttered, suddenly feeling that horrible sense of solitude he felt whenever he really thought about Sam.

"Wrong time line" Max repeated, finishing on one mirror and starting on the rear-view mirror. He tried to get the angel right but just ended up aiming it right back at him. His arm just flopped down to his side whilst he locked eyes with his reflection.

"Wrong partner surviving" Max muttered to himself

As if to answer the statement, Max's reflection suddenly glared back at him and said "Wrong partner dying"

Max shot back into his seat, staring wide eyed at the reflection. "What the hell!?"

Max looked up at the mirror. All he sure then, instead of that breath look of repulsion he had seen, was himself looking back, showing the same surprise he knew was plastered on his own face.

"Ummmmm…" Max muttered, letting the syllable run on whilst he turned the mirror away, put the car into gear and started to drive.

Max was not used to being shaken. Feeling unsure about his surroundings. So he coped in the best way he knew how. By converting his anxiety into speed. Being an unsafe driver was not a new experience for Max throughout his years as a freelance policeman, but today he took things to the extreme. Weaving through busy traffic, ploughing through the streets and curbs of New York, Max only wanted to get home as soon as possible.

Soon though, despite the storm of beeping horns that met him as he drove through the city and revving of the engine drowning out his own panting, Max started to relax again. He looked back up at the rear-view mirror distrustfully, going so far as to turn it fully away to there was no chance at seeing his own reflection.

"Must have been Yog-Soggoth… some dark magic c**p or something… need to rest… rest and go back there and properly mount the *******" Max snarled, inwardly happy to be transforming his uncertainties into good old fashion rage. Yog-Soggoth might not have been responsible for what had just happened but Max really didn't care. He was going to pay for it anyway.

Max's eyes darted from the other mirror on the right hand door, glad to see it pointed away from him and then to the other. He looked at the door mounted wing mirror, noting the Ford Transit behind him before suddenly, without warning, the mirror mount snapped, swinging back into the car as if someone had pushed it.

Max, once again looked back at himself through the Desoto's window. Through the glass Max could see, clearly and distinctly the expression in his reflection go from surprise, to blank, to something akin to revulsion.

"Can't hide from me, Neighbour. Not anymore"

Without hesitation Max took out his Lugar, took aim and shot out his window and wing mirror in one shot.

"Don't know what the hell is going on but I'm not game at the moment" Max called out, gun still in hand as he started accelerating again. He needed to get home. Right now.

Back on edge again, Max found himself outside his apartment, Desoto stopped by a combination of Max desperately applying the brakes and a collision with a pavement mounted parking meter. Uncaring of the damage, Max stumbled out of the car, up into the building and into his apartment. He slammed the door shut as if to say the weirdness that had happened in the car was not welcome in the office.

Panting, Max muttered "Ok. No more of that. No more."

"As if things were that simple" Came a calm voice from behind Max.

Max, slowly taking his hands off the door and turning around to the source of the voice, looked over the office. At first appearing empty, Max looked over the room carefully, scanning the closet where the freelance police stored their souvenirs from past crimes, to the overrun filing cabinet, to the desk, still covered in post stick notes and the chair… facing away from him…

As if on cue, the chair slowly turned, to reveal…

"Urgh, sorry. Who the hell are you?" Max asked, no longer feeling anxious, and jumping right back into anger. The guy sitting in front of him was a completely stranger to him.

The guy stood up from behind the freelance police's desk and moved around it so he was standing right in front of Max. He was taller than Max but still short for a human. He looked in his 50's, sporting a black and white suit with a bow tie. His hair was black, styled into duck tail cut. In fact, Max noticed, apart from a red rose clipped to his suit, the guy seemed to be entirely coloured in black and white, like he was a presenter of 1950's TV program.

The man smiled, despite the gun pointed directly at him, and said in a rich voice "Hello Max. We meet at last…"

"And you are?" Max said, wanting to get a couple questions out the way before he unloaded his gun's magazine.

"… Hmm, now that is a tough one" The man said, drumming his finger on his lips as he tried to form the right words. "Well one way you could look at me is as your conscience Max. But I think we both know that would just be a lie. A more accurate answer might be for you to consider me your "superego"." And with that the man bowed before finishing "You can call me The Narrator"


	16. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Max looked in bewilderment as the slightly overweight, smart dressed figment of his imagination stepped forward and bowed. He even did it with a sweep of his arms to make the gesture more… classy.

"You know" Max said, scratching his chin with the barrel of his Lugar, "I am really starting to miss the times when I felt in control of… well anything really"

The Narrator just smiled politely as he straightened and went back to the desk. "Control is a big word Max. And control over anything takes effort, resolution. It is earnt " The Narrator paused as he re-seated himself at the desk and looked up at Max with the same polite, empty smile. "And you have never been one for any of those, my dear boy."

 _Wow, catty_ , Max thought

Max glared back at the grinning 'Narrator' before retorting "Well screw you too"

The Narrator rolled his eyes as he leaned back in the chair "And a comment like that reminds me instantly why I have never wished to engage in dialog with you."

Max ignored the comment and moved opposite the man. Though not aiming his gun forward, he still kept it in hand. Something about the way this… other him was behaving made Max unease.

"So… you're the thing Yog-Soggoth mentioned" Max said, crossing his arms as he looked The Narrator up and down "For an evil me, you don't look very… me"

The Narrator let out a snorted before answering "Max, don't insult me by trying to provoke me. I believe Yog-Soggoth explained, if briefly, my nature during this 'other time line'."

Max just shook his head "Nah, nah. You're doing this all wrong. See, you're supposed to start by spouting exposition at me and telling me your plans. That's how this sort of thing plays out usually"

A very dark look crossed The Narrator's face. It was only for an instant but Max saw some of the disgust he had seen on his own face in the mirror of the Desoto. This guy really did hate him. Not like the anger from some of the villains he and Sam had crossed over the years, but really cultivated hatred. The sort nurtured and cared for over the course of years.

"You know" The Narrator said, getting himself under control, going back into his easy patronising smile "I honestly have wondered what I would say to you if we ever actually spoke. In the years I've spent in your head, I've spent so much time running through the exact things I would say to you."

The Narrator just shook his head forlornly. "And now that I am here, right now, I am left speechless"

"Ah, shucks" Max said, faking a blush "You don't need to be embarrassed. A lot of people get a little tongue tired when they meet their idols"

This time The Narrator just smiled, not letting the comment perturb him "Though if I am honest, your behaviour during our meeting is precisely what I expected… except without Sam's dialog to bounce off of your own"

The Narrator's smile widened as he saw Max's reaction to his comment. It was so sudden and dramatic, it looked like Max had been shocked, every limb twitching slightly, though he kept up his own grin. The way he dropped Sam's name, as if trying to provoke Max back felt like a jab to the gut.

"Is this the part where you try and shoot me?" The Narrator asked, holding his arms out in a welcoming gesture.

Mas was silent for a good ten seconds before he finally decided to reply. "How about this, I ask you about the hole at the warehouse, you tell me some lie or something else to try and piss me off, then you go back into my head and we never speak a god damned work to each other, ever again"

"Why Max, that almost sounded reasonable, by your standards. How can I not aid you in your investigation with some a polite request like that"

"Grand" Max said, still desperately trying to repress the urge to go full Monty Python Rabbit on this guy. He guessed it wouldn't do anything. "So, that hole, was it-"

"Yes" The Narrator answered, not bothered at cutting Max "Yes, the image placed over the top of that pit was created by a psychic"

The Narrator got up again and idly began circling the room, seeming to ignore Max "It's called a mental web. A trained psychic can lay a web over any surface they chose, creating a false reality. They do not so much make a full illusion, but a space in which the viewers mind will fill in the space themselves. The caster can direct it, slightly, but it is the person viewing it that will create the image."

The whole thing was said like The Narrator was giving a lecture to a slow student. He didn't even look at Max as he made a slow, easy pace around the room, sweeping his arms to elaborate each point.

"This does have limitations. For if two people see this space, they might have two visions at what should fill the area, leading to its discovery. But powerful psychics can instil the net with a subliminal suggestion. In the case of the web you discovered, this suggestion was for the area of the warehouse floor to be avoided. That is way people did not discover it. And one final thing which I would hope you would already if you had been paying attention. As soon as someone realises the net is there, the image they hold in their head compromised, causing the web to dissolve, as you found out upon falling in it"

And with that The Narrator looked back at Max and said, pointedly "There is the information you need for your investigation. I see no further reason as for us to continue with this… tête-à-tête"

Max nodded, as if agreeing but said instead "Well yes. That was all some top notch rubbish you spouted, but it did tell me at least one thing. No way are you in my head."

Max finalised the statement by pointing a dramatic finger over at The Narrator. "You could convince me there's another part of my who, in exchange for wanting to look fug-ugly for some ungodly reason, could be super smart, but the stuff you said was WAY to specific. That's the sort of c**p I would expect from a nerd who's spent his worthless youth and even elder years looking into one dull topic, rummaging through books"

Max folded his arms and gave a smug grin right back and continued "So either you made all that up, so there's no point to anything we just went through, or you are just some crazy dude, wasting my time in my apartment just begging, in a roundabout way, to be shot…" Max finished this by raising his luger and calmly aiming it at The Narrator's head and giving a particularly evil grin."…maliciously"

Max was suddenly feeling happy again. He felt like he was getting a hold of the situation, and quite ready to turn the hold into a good old throttle. However, just as he moved his thumb to his gun's trigger did he notice something was off. Not with The Narrator. He was keeping still and standing in his crosshairs, like a good little target. No, what was wrong was the office. And what was wrong with the office was… everything.

Max lowered the gun and stared wide eyed as the entire office around his started to fade away. All the clutter from the Freelance Police's past cases slowly began to fade away, the desk, though it remained, began to shift. All the post stick notes and other items on it moved away, replaced with only a radio microphone and a sign, saying "NARRATOR".

It all just faded, colour, junk. All to be replaced with a sterile, black and white office with only a desk, a filing cabinet and a door. There didn't even seem to be a floor or ceiling.

"Neat trick" Max muttered, still looking over the contents, or lack thereof, inside the office.

"Thank you. And Max, none of what I said was made up. If you were to somehow wind up in deep space, travel around and speak to the right people, the term mental web would get you the same answer I gave you."

"Doesn't explain how you know when I don't." Max shot back, still looking around the mono coloured room in irritation. The clutter of the office had given the place a nice lived in feeling. The random junk the Freelance Police had collected over the years gave the room character. This place seemed almost clinically clean. It didn't seem natural to him.

"Well there are plenty of things I know that you do not Max. Minds I have read using your own untapped powers whilst you have gone on throughout your life aimlessly assaulting one member of the public to the next. But in this case, that information was not garnered from someone else, Max. But I'm not going to go into that. What I will do is welcome you…"

"….This…" The Narrator said, spreading his arms out "…Is my home"

Taking a few steps over to the desk and sitting back down, leaning back on the leather chair, he looked back at Max and continued. "This is the world I have created. And yes, in case you are wondering, a world created inside your own mind."

"I'm currently in my head?" Max asked, now looking at the blandness in horror. "I know I am not this boring"

As if to reply to Max's comment, The Narrator pointed to one of the doors in the office. One of the only things in the office that had colour, beyond the American flag and the Narrators own pinned up rose. It was bright red and, for some reason, seemed to be humming. Max could hear the wood shudder in place.

Following the finger, Max walked over to the door and if only to see if there was a way out of this bleached out dungeon, opened it.

 _…ok. That's… well at least it's not boring,_ Max thought.

What lay on the other size Max would have described door was hell, or maybe hell like in nature. He would say that if he hadn't infact already visited hell, which all things considered hadn't been that bad a place. What he now looked on though… it honestly did leave him speechless.

It was chaos. Chaos incarnate. Every colour he could imagine moved and twirled and collided in a swirling mass of disorder and anarchy. There was no organisation, no harmony, no shape, no…. sense. And yet…

… and yet it seemed right to Max. Right in a fundamental way that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Like how he found the random mess of post stick notes he left on the table had been right somehow, everything clicking into place, despite the disorder before him.

And then he knew. He knew right down to the depths of his bones that what he was looking at was himself. His own mind. All his thoughts, feelings, all stripped down to their raw form. Then Max looked back into the office, which now with its unchanging form and lifeless colours seemed even more unnatural. Unwelcome even.

"That, as I assume you have guessed is your mind" The Narrator said as he snapped his fingers, causing the red door to close

"Your conscious and subconscious thoughts all mixing together in a pool of pandemonium. This" And again the Narrator swept his arms over his small but stable room. He even seemed to indicate it all with a sense of pride in his tone. "All this is my fortress. My castle against your broken mind. In here I can see and hear all you hear, but collect the information, as I see fit. I can even, as I said earlier, use the powers you are so ignorant of"

As sudden as the pride and self-satisfaction came at showing his achievement, it was replace just as suddenly with what sounded like regret. "Powers, as Yog-Soggoth told you, I had once aimed at using for your demise... years of planning. Getting all the pieces together. All the players who would be needed…. All those toys. Doing it all subtly, whilst you went around the world, I used your own powers to get all I would need…. And then the Toys of Power, the main piece needed for everything to work disappear, as if they never existed"

The Narrator shot accusing eyes over at Max "I almost suspected you had done it. It's strange. I can read almost any mind EXCEPT yours Max. That" He pointed at the door Max was standing next to "That chaos is impossible to bypass, to decipher…. But it doesn't matter. Yog-Soggoth came to our time and contacted me, I understand why they went. And all my years of planning… useless"

Max only smiled at this, taking pleasure in The Narra… "Ok, though I am enjoying our banter… well that's a lie, but anyway… I really cannot keep calling you "The NARRATOR!". And seriously, why the look? I don't know why you think the opposite of me is a human, but C'mon."

The Narrator just shrugged "Fine. You are my guest. I can be accommodating" And with the same slow melding from Max's office to his own, The Narrator began to fade. His image of a middle aged gentleman slowly began to be replaced with…

 _Ok, that's freaky_ , Max thought as he looked on at the Lagomorph sitting in the chair now.

The Narrator had transformed into a Lagomorph. Or to be specific, Max. Or to be even more specific…. Not Max. Not quite anyway.

 _He looks like me… but with all of the ME taken out_ , Max thought, _as he looked up and down at the clothed Lagomorph._

It was rather disconcerting. The Narrator now looked like Max, but with subtle and major differences. For one, he was clothed, in something similar to the same suit he wore earlier. And unlike Max, his grin was not filled with a set of teeth a shark would be proud to display. Instead he had two prominent front incisors, much like Cocky, Brock and Dez had sported. Even his eyes were different. Instead of Max's mad beady little eyes looking back at it, they were just beady. All of the madness he tried to install in a good stare was gone.

"Like it?" The other Max said. "This is how I was originally made. How I originally incarnated myself inside the corner of your mind. You, but not you. I like to consider it a you but one having lived a different life."

"And since I'm using my old looks, I'll even go back to using my old name" And this that, the other Max stood up, leaned over his desk and spun the name tag around. Instead of it saying NARRATOR though, it only said "Walter"

"Walter? Really?" Max said, now suddenly missing The Narrator. "You named yourself Walter? What, was Jeeves taken?"

Walter just grinned his perfectly normal grin back to Max. "Again Max, my name and the origin of it is of no concern of yours Max"

"Still weird. I'm actually missing that radio presenter body of yours" Max said, still looking over Walter's body like he was looking in a fun house mirror.

Walter just sighed, his voice still the same, despite the different body. "This is the form I had for many years. Since your childhood, watching you and Sam go through life like it was a game… It took years for me to decide to simply change"

Walter even smiled wistfully, "I am, really, only a thought. I do not really have a body, so changing form is simple for me. The other look, the human look, was one I made specially for the time when… well, a time that will never come, now that the toys are gone"

"I am free to change to whoever I see fit…" With this, Walter's smile seemed to turn more sinister. "Why not something even further down memory lane" And again, without any apparent effort Walter began to change, this time instead of fade to a completely different shape he seemed to be shrinking. His suit melted away to a baggy grey shirt and trousers and that mad little glitter that Max prided himself on returned. He had transformed himself into Max's younger self. Admittedly, Max didn't remember when in his childhood he had look quite so… haggard. But despite that, it actually did make Max a little relaxed to not see this alternative version of himself. It remained him of this room. Too clean and bland. No colour.

Max was about to ask why Walter had gone for a version of himself he would soon be calling "Mini-Me" Until he saw Walter's smile. Saw Walter with his younger self smile up at him, with a grin that, if it could be considered possible, was more frightening then his own.

Max actually recoiled as he saw, in his young self's mouth a set of broken, jagged teeth that could barely close properly. The teeth had been cracked and sharpened to fine points. Such fine points that the act of keeping his jaw closed was causing some to cut into Walter's own gum. He saw blood coat the teeth and cheeks in a display of horror that even Max, to his own shame, looked away in aversion.

"What's wrong? I thought it would be nice to pick a form we were both familiar with" Walter said. His voice came out clear but Max knew if he had been speak around those hooks in his own, his words would have come out garbled like Stich.

"Ok, really don't have a clue what you are talking about. Don't even remember getting into any fights back in the good old days that left me like that. Still trying to unnerve me?"

"Oh Max, I am unnerving you. If I am to get anything from this exchange it is to see you squirm. It's why I chose this form. You don't exactly know why, but it is affecting you. It doesn't hold very good memories I am afraid. But like all things you don't like Max, you just bury them away, instead of facing them."

Walter began to chuckle slightly as he looked over his new body "Oh this does bring back memories for me though… my first memories. From when I was…. Well, the word born might not be wholly correct, but it's as good as any other"

Max didn't reply, instead noting the lines of blood falling down Walter's cheek. "This is just more bu****it. More stuff you've made up-"

"And you know that to be a lie Max, so why bother even saying it." Walter said, interrupt Max again without care. "I like this body Max, if only because it reminds me of who you are. You joke about the term. Throwing it around in every joke you can squeeze it into, but the fact is it is accurate. You are a psychopath. You are broken Max and you will, inevitably hurt those around you. The fact you have only assaulted those you consider criminals is a simple excuse. You have no morals, no ability to do anything right for the right reasons… Yog-Soggoth told me, at the end, you convinced me at the end that you did have principles. That you sacrificed yourself to save a select few… No" He said the last part not in outrage, but in the same plain tone, whilst shaking his head slowly.

"No Max. I simply do not believe that. He didn't see what happened and there could have been any number of… it doesn't matter. What does matter Max, is that you are dangerous. You are the sort of person who could happily watch the world burn, if all you had was a spark. No one else knows this, but I do. I know. And I won't let that happen. I can stop you from using yours powers Max. And whilst I remain, I will stop you. I don't have the toys, but I have other means…"

Silence descended heavily between the two, as Walter, still in young Max's body glared up at him.

The silence was finally broken when Max said "… do you know what that was?"

Walter just raised one eyebrow on Max's younger self's body in answer.

Max shot back a full white shining grin and said "… you spouting exposition and telling me your plans."

Walter didn't bat an eye, but Max knew he had scored a point. There might had been a slight twitch there. This entire conversation had just been some verbal dual for Walter, Max knew. And if he couldn't shoot him, he was happy to play along.

"This interview is over I think" Walter said, clicking his lagomorph fingers. On the snap, Max heard the door behind him reopen.

"Wait, wait!" Max said quickly, holding up his hands as if to stop Walter.

"What is it?" Walter asked, looking back at Max sceptically.

"That's it… I just got it" Max said, snapping his own fingers in sudden realisation

"… what did you just get, Max?" Walter asked, tiredly.

"Who you remind me of… I was just trying to remember his name but it just came back. Martyn. Lonely Martyn in flat 222. Remember him"

Nothing seemed to come across Walter's face but Max guessed he knew who he Martyn was. Remember him from his own memories, if what he was saying was true.

"I am surprised you remember that case. It was hardly a case at all really. Solved after you walked through the door. And nothing like the other random hijinks you got yourself into" Walter said. He didn't sound insulted at the comparison.

And he was right. Martyn was just one small case both Sam and he had handled and closed after 10 seconds. No long investigation. No huge build-up of clues and suspects. They just walked through the door and the guy just admitted to it. No guilt or regret. Just confidence that what he had done had to be done and that he wasn't getting away with it. That had probably been the one thing that made the case stick with Max.

The case, as it was, had been a simple report of the disappearance of a guy. Some guy in his mid 20's disappeared. Neil or something. So the call came in, Sam and Max made their way to Neil's apartment and found Neil dead on the floor, apparently taken out by a wok judging by the bloody implement left uncaringly on the floor beside the body.

And then they met Martyn, Neil's flat mate. He was there, in the other room, drinking juice and apparently waiting for the police to arrive. He told Sam and Max clearly that he had killed Neil and in cold blood. Max had been giddy as he hadn't met a proper lunatic before, like the ones you read about in those forensic crime books.

But when Max pestered the guy for his motive, Martyn just said "He didn't clean-up"

Max, not really satisfied with that asked again and Martyn came up with more and more minor examples of Neil "Never doing his share of the cooking", "Always skimping him of the food runs", "Making too much noise"…

Max grinned at the memory now. "Yeah. I bet that's it. I bet you, sitting here, watching everything I do like some guy in the cinema, just getting more and more annoyed. Why doesn't he do this, and why did he need to do that, did he really have to bite that guy that hard… One little thing here, one comment there. Enough little things over the years that just kept grinding your gears. Does that sound right? So now you spent our entire talk trying to piss me off, even going as far as showing me… I dunno, when I was a kid and in some kind of fight "

Walter actually looked like he was considering the comparison. "… It is amazing Max. Most of the time you are throwing off idle childish comments and then, when the mood strikes you, you actually show yourself to be a capable observer and use what you see to hurt someone where he looks weakest…. You did the same too Cocky, remember?"

Max's grin faded. He remembered that. Three weeks ago, during the whole incident with Sam… Cocky standing there, Sam in surgery and him saying, for all intense of purposes "Hey, no hard feelings". And him striking back, making fun of the little love triangle he was stuck in with his Dez and Brock… yeah. He could be very petty sometimes…

Walter just shrugged. "And you are right to a degree Max. I do hate you and I won't deny, having you act the way you do all these years but watching, time after time, you getting treated as a hero stung me, over and over… When you are alone in a blank room made of your own thoughts, you have plenty of time for self-contemplation… but despite what you said, I know my reasons…"

Walter just shook his head finally and said, as if to end their conversation on one final point "One correction though, Max. I did chose this form to unnerve you, and this" Walter said, raising a hand to indicate his shattered teeth "was not done in a fight… you did this. To yourself"

"… I don't believe that"

"And I don't care. All I know is, that comment will follow you. You will wonder why I said it, if it's true… and why it seems so important" Walter said, sitting back into his chair, which shrunk down to fit him. "Anyway, you have the information you need Max. Both what you came here for, and more then you deserved. Go back to your world. And I truly hope we never have reason to talk to another again."

"Oh, tough talk. Think you can kick me out?" Max said, now just looking for any tiny excuse to start shooting.

"Max. This is my world… not yours."

And without that, as if hit by a massive force, Max was thrown out of the room and was sent flying through the red door leading back into the rest of his mind.

Max shot awake inside the Desoto. He looked around desperately, trying to gather his bearings… the museum. He was still at the museum. Still in the car, having apparently fallen asleep.

Max, gingerly looking over the car, noting the windows still out of alignment said, in a timid voice "Ok… how likely is it that all I just saw was a dream"

As if to answer him, the rear view mirror and both side mirrors suddenly jerked, as if moved by invisible hands, and snapped into their correct positions.

Silence descended over the car until Max said, in a bitter voice "I'll take that as a no…"


	17. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Are you alright Max?" Doctor Philip said, handing over the 3rd cup of coffee since Max came in 20 minutes ago.

"It's fine" Max said, waving off the comment whilst taking an unhealthy chug of caffeine.

"You look as though you slept badly last night" Philip said, trying to broach the subject carefully.

Max, downing the cup in one long draft looked up at his shrink and gave a forced grin. "That's good. That would be a compliment to my looks since I had no sleep last night"

"Max" Philip said, shaking his head disapprovingly "I understand your work can get engaging but sleep deprivation is not something to be taken lightly"

"It's…" Max looked around, as if he was trying to find some inspiration for why he had refused sleep, or at least an excuse but instead settled on "…it's fine."

Philip, obviously surprised at the tone in Max's voice leaned forward and said in a slow, careful voice "Max, we do have doctor client privilege. If you are worried about anything, you can go ahead and say it."

"It's fine" Max repeated, suddenly feeling the urge to either smash something or smoke until his lungs become two desolate wastelands. He already reached around and took out a pack of cigarettes but Philip just shook his head and pointed over to the no smoking sign. With a grimace, Max put the pack away.

"Ok" Philip said, not at all convinced by Max's earlier statement. "So, today, why don't we talk about your childhood. Specifically around the time you met Sam. How you met and what happened before then"

Max, still a little distracted said "I… I don't really remember anything from that far back"

Philip pushed a little "Well did you meet in school?"

Max thought about this but shook his head "No… we met… we met…" He began to shake his head, suddenly feeling more annoyed.

"Come on Max. We need to dig-" Philip began before being cut off.

"You know" Max said, feeling his tetchiness suddenly finding a point to channel on "You say the word 'we' but so far there's really been a lot of 'I'. As in, I come in to these sessions and talk and then leave… I'm not really feeling much of the mind healing so far"

Philip, actually seeming taken aback said, still in his calm relaxed tone "I honestly thought we were making progress Max. You seemed in higher spirits since we first met. Though, as I said, this is only the first part-"

"So we spend the next 100 sessions talking about everything I've ever done and then, boom. You have…" Max paused suddenly. His mouth hang open as he held back his next comment, seeming to decide on something. "Why don't you tell me how this stuff is supposed to work then?"

Philip just shrugged "How do you mean?"

"Ok… let's leave my case alone and go with something else. You have someone walk in, looking good and mental for you to examine and after a few sessions you realise he has…" Max paused, making it seem like he was picking something out of thin air "… He has another personality inside him that wants to kill him."

"…You mean Dissociative identity disorder?"

"Yeah" Max said nodding, instantly remembering what Yog-Soggoth had said, using a similar name. "Just humour me. What would you give the guy to kill the other personality?"

Philip, looking a little lost at the sudden drastic change in topic began to massage the bridge of his nose. "D.I.D Max is one of those disorders you will see on TV or in movies far more then you will probably hear of real cases… some in my field don't even believe in the disorder, at least the current description it has."

Looking to Max to see if it was satisfied and seeing him not Philip continued "Alright. First honest answer Max would be that I would almost certainly not handle a person with the symptoms you mentioned as such a person, being a danger to themselves would almost certainly need to be committed. But assuming I still get access to the patient… I would start by getting the patient to talk to me about him/herself"

Max looked suddenly annoyed "This is sounding familiar"

"The disorder you mentioned Max is something of a controversial topic in my field... but talk therapy, such as what we have started is considered one of the most effective treatments in psychiatry Max, if not as a treatment then as a building block to one." Philip said this last part to Max, trying to emphasise that they had not been wasting their time "Anyway, other treatments include the use of hypnosis or Antipsychotic drugs"

Max perked up at this. _Take a pill and flush dear Walter down the mental toilet? Sign me up!_

"Which as I said to you on our first session, I would be unlikely to prescribe. I do not like suggesting drugs as a manner to solving ones problem, not unless I believe there is no better option. And Antipsychotic drugs are not something I would prescribe likely. They dull your mind, making it hard to think clearly. And other side effects are not… it doesn't matter Max. Does that answer your question?"

Max put the information on the treatments away to one side. He could look into this more, but he didn't want to mention this to Philip. He didn't want people coming to try and put him in an asylum. He didn't believe they could do that, but the effort expended by everyone would just be a waste.

"I guess… so we just gonna continue like yesterday? I talk, you listen… I would like to know what the end goal is… or if you have some idea on how to make things better" Max ended this by slumping forward, not bothering to make eye contact with Philip.

Philip paused for a long while after Max's comment, seeming to try and decide something. "Ok. It is generally frowned upon to do this but if you wish, I will share my thoughts on your current state of mind Max"

Max looked up again, curious. When he saw he had Max's attention Philip continued. "As you know, I like to make most points by using anecdotes, and this is no exception…" Philip shuffled to get comfy and looked out through the windows as he spoke.

"When I was born Max, I had a genetic defect. A serious one. After I was conceived and the doctors were worried about me, they did some tests and found out I had been born with one kidney. It's called Renal Agenesis, and it has a large impact on how you wish to lead your life Max. I was told as early as I could walk and talk about how this would affect me, and the potential dangers I might face"

Max, despite the story seeming to have nothing to do with his own problems, listened on intently.

"Well, life went on for me. I was told I could receive a donor to act as a second kidney. Unlikely as there is always someone who needs one because they are living off dialysis. But anyway, years down the line and I'm at college, studying for a medical degree. I'm have a good life at this point. Good friends, loving parents, living in halls. One of my friends has just returned to me a my sweaters I loaned him. We were house mates and his had gotten wrecked, it wasn't that strange a favour. But when I got the clothes back… none of them fit"

Max looked on, now confused "Put on weight?"

"No Max. The opposite. The cloths hung off me as if they had been made for a much larger person. I looked at myself and suddenly realised I had lost weight… a lot of weight infact. I had not even noticed it from my day to day life but suddenly wearing a set of tops all too big for me…"

Max continued looking confused.

Peter, as if in answer to Max, said quietly "Sudden loss of weight Max… a sigh of something I had been told from the day I was born. Something I had never wanted to think about, and had ignored, but always knew was a definite possibility for me… kidney failure"

Max, suddenly looked concerned "Did you survive?"

A wall of silence entered the room as Philip looked on at Max, obviously hoping Max had made a joke "Yes Max. I did. But as soon as that thought entered my mind Max… it wouldn't leave me. I called my doctor, we arranged a meeting and he ran some tests… He told me I wouldn't get the results for a week… That week Max…. That week was, by far, the worse time in my life. Sitting with the dread. The fear. It was overwhelming. I couldn't go to class, couldn't eat. The worry I know caused me to get sick, which only made me think I was getting worse…"

Philip kept pausing, a haunted looking passing over his face as he told the story. "It was hell. And then… I find out my friend had simply stretched the clothes out. He was bigger than me… I hadn't even thought about that. And yes, the test came back fine. I had been fine the whole time."

Philip shook his head, suddenly smiling. "Something so small… it very nearly lead me to an early grave, purely out of worry. And I bet, like the last time I gave one of my anecdotes, you are wondering why I'm telling you this"

"It's crossing my mind now" Max said. He had no wish to throw out his typical comments and jokes. For once he didn't feel good about mocking something so personal, openly shared to him.

"That worry, though is my own personal creation, is not something uncommon in people. We have worry, times when we feel down or upset… that case was just something I did to myself. But nearly everyone has faced something like that at some point. Waiting on grade scores. Sore times in their relationship. Friend or family falling ill. It's something everyone faces to some point during their lives"

Philip then looked directly up at Max "But Max. I have the distinct impression that you are the exception to that"

"What?" Max asked, not sure if he was being insulted or complimented.

"I get the impression Max that you have… no, saying leading an easy life would not be correct but…" Philip paused, as if trying to form his words properly. "… From what you have told me about you Max, it doesn't appear you have made any of the usual connections to people I would guess for someone your age. You show no worry to your family as, from what I read in your file, you do not have any. You also don't have a large number of people you would consider your friend. The only person you have investigated any emotional commitment with seems to be Sam."

"Hey now, you're making it sound like me and Sam were-"

"No Max. I know you were working partners. That is fine. But I continue. From the reports I have of you from school, it doesn't appear you took anything, including you education seriously. And from your adventures you described, despite appearing to be in life threatening situations most of the time, again you don't sound as if you felt like you were in any actual danger. Am I right?"

Max paused, suddenly not sure how to respond. All the times he and Sam had been in danger before…

"As strange as it sounds to say this to you Max, considering your past accomplishments, I believe you take life too easy. You don't work at forming new bonds with those around you. This was in fact the reason I wanted to talk to you about your childhood Max. To confirm this."

Max shrugged, suddenly very happy to go back to just talking. The diagnosis Philip had just made for him had not been what he had expected, or wanted to hear. It made him sound sad and alienated from everybody. It also didn't help that it felt like Philip had hit home, in a way.

"I'm not good at memories. I remember the day me and Sam met-"

"No, no, no Max." Paters said raising a pen and pointing it at Max, as if he was a gameshow host and Max had just mucked up the answer. "I don't mean from when you and Sam met. I mean before that"

Max shook his head "Nope. Got nothing for you" He said simply.

Philip didn't look perturbed. "You must know something Max. Memories don't just leave"

Max suddenly remember looking out at the chaotic swirling mass that had been his own mind when he had been with Walter. The idea of any memory surviving it that on-going explosion seemed unlikely.

"Well then, I might as well start earning my pay then… if I was being paid, that is" Philip said as he got off his chair and went to his desk.

"What do you mean?" Max said, suddenly interested again. Was Philip gonna start talking about his childhood?

"Well Max, though this is not a 100% reliable method, I would like to try and hypnotise you"

Max was already out of the chair and walking fast to the door. "Thanks for the all sessions Doc. I'll just-"

"Max" Said Philip patiently, already taking out a portable TV. "Please come back. This is not like it is on the television"

Max looked over to Philip and then down to the portable TV he held. As if guessing the question Philip added "No pun intended" As he took the TV and placed it on a stand opposite the main chair in the office.

Suddenly interested again, Max wondered back to the chair and looked over at the blank box.

"Hypnosis Max is not how it is on TV. I cannot turn you into a chicken or make your reveal you deepest secrets to me. And hypnosis is unlikely to work if you do not allow it." Whilst saying all this, Philip straightened the tiny box and walked over to Max, the TV still off.

"This is a technique where you will project your memories onto the screen of the TV. I will not be able to see what you see, and you will not be sitting there saying it all out loud… are you willing to try?"

Max looked back at the TV and then to Philip. After a few moments to consider, Max leaned back to get comfortable and said "Have any popcorn?"


	18. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Wake up!"

Max groaned in desperation, hoping through his sleep addled mind that, what he heard, did not apply to him.

"Wake up!" came a scream again.

The voice was high pitched and hyperactive, the way only a five year old girl can manager. Max still, through dogged dedication to claim back his much deserved sleep tried to ignore it, but it was impossible. Not just because of the screaming, but because Amy, his young and annoying sister was emphasising every word by jumping up and down on top of him.

Realising the battle had been lost, Max opened his eyes and glared up at Amy, who as he expected looked only smug at her achievement.

"Up Up, Out Out!" She screamed, still making the point of jumping on him.

"I'm up. I'm up" Max muttered, pulling off his blankets and dislodging his little sister. She giggled and ran downstairs whilst calling "Breakfast is ready. Everyone's already at the table"

Max instantly went up a couple gears and shot over to the bathroom. He turned passed his bed and the beds of his brothers. All 5 of them.

Max was 13 years old. He had 5 brothers, 2 of them younger then him and 3 of them older. He also had 4 sisters, with one younger one, being the little angel who just assaulted him, to his 3 older ones. He was a middle child Lagomorph in a family of 12. And every morning breakfast was served as an buffet for all in the family to fight over. After 13 years with his fellow siblings Max had learnt that the morning breakfast table was a 20 minute long war zone, where only the strong or wily survived. And he was late.

Max shot into the bathroom and, clothes already falling to the floor, jumped straight into the shower. Not ever caring about the showers ancient habit of going ice cold to scolding hot when you first turned it on, Max cleaned and lathered as quickly as he could. He even brushed his teeth in the shower, cutting down his time by at least one minute. Max, using his food calculator, estimated one minutes gained was one serving of toast, give or take. It was worth the short cut.

After his mandatory cleaning, Max got out, got changed and inspected himself in the boys rooms mirror.

The most he could say when gazing on his reflection was "Meh, it'll do". The lagomorph that looked back at him in the mirror looked… well, short. It was annoying as hell, but still even at the age of 13, he still wasn't any taller than most of his brothers, even those a good two years younger than him. That was, for a kid his age, unforgivable. Unforgivable for his older brothers and sisters to go and steal all the tall genes from his parents, leaving none for him. His brother had told him once genetics didn't work like that, but that was the argument of a thief, in Max's mind.

Resigned to his scruffy appearance, Max left the boys room and made his way down stairs. He could already hear his brothers and sisters voices from the kitchen… both sets of voices.

Taking the last few steps two at a time, Max barrelled down the hallway and into the kitchen. He was met by loving insults shared between siblings the universe over, ending with his mother giving a tired grin and nodding to his seat.

Max skipped over to his seat. Skipping mostly to avoid being tripped by his older brother Mike, who had made it a habit of jostling and tripping Max and his over brothers because…. Well because he was an ***. At least that was Max's reasoning.

Taking his seat, Max made a grab for whatever was nearby. After looking over the scraps left by his loving family, he was resigned to having some of the healthy stuff on the table. He piled his plate with carrots and lettuce and did his best and trying to enjoy his green and orange meal, and to try and block out the noise from around the table.

The noise was probably the only thing that made any of his family gatherings a small test of endurance for Max. And the problem was not with his siblings talking. His mother, sitting as always to the side to act as referee to the meal, never liked the conversations or general collective talk around the table to get too high. This was not mean spirited, but more a practical measure when handling ten children all being forced around a table at one time.

No, the actual REAL noise around the table was not the problem. The real problem for Max was the… other noise. The noise coming from every member of his family… and actually every person he had ever met. All the time, they spoke. They didn't move their lips and could even be sleeping, but they all did it.

The inner voices Max had dubbed them. He had always heard them, as far back as he could remember. The voices in people's heads that no one else could hear but him. He had heard them as far back as he could remember. He had never told anyone about them. He didn't know when he decided to never tell anyone about it, he could just about recall saying something to one of his friends in pre-school. Something that had upset him. Something that had scared him… scared him enough to no longer want to be around Max.

That was all Max could remember, that vague echo that what he heard… he shouldn't be hearing. But since then, after listening over the years, Max knew he was very much alone with this… thing, whatever it is.

You would imagine being able to hear peoples thoughts would be pretty amazing. The problem with Max though was that he had always had this power. Something always active that he couldn't turn on and off. And the noise…

Max squirmed, trying to eat as quickly as possible just to get away from the table. He didn't like listening to his brothers and sisters thoughts. Not for privacy reasons but really because they were so LOUD. It was deafening, with all the details being lost in the volume. And this was only at home. At school was worse. Being stuck, hours at a time in a class room full of noise, being unable to concentrate… if it wasn't for the same gift letting him cheat his way through school, he would be in trouble.

But today was different. Today was not just any day. Today was the LAST day. The last day of the school year, where he would get a full two months to escape. Most of his brothers and sisters he could hear already had plans to meetup with friends during the break. Not Max. Max had already planned on all the most desolate areas of the town he could hold up, away from all the noise and actually try and relax. Maybe even go camping alone, away from all free thinking Lagomorphs. He had been looking forward to this for a whole term and now, with only one test left to do for the day, he was already planning to head off after school and finding the nearest deserted place he could stumble across.

"So what's your plans after school, Max?"

Max looked up upon hearing his voice and met eyes with his other older brother, Jake. He was just about to give a non-committal answer when he heard Jake continue.

"Gonna slink off to some hole like usual? When are you gonna make the effort and get some friends?"

Max instantly dropped his eyes and kept eating, trying to make it seem like he hadn't stared at Jake. He had just enough time upon hearing his name to look up and see his brother drinking his juice. Drinking his juice whilst thinking about Max. Thinking, not actually talking. Another false alarm.

"Great Fluffy One, how does he always seem to look at me when I start thinking about him…?"

Max ate as quickly as possible. He didn't want to spend any more time at the table. He already felt uncomfortable after his brothers comments… and, as he tried to silently defend himself, he had tried to make friends over the years. But… well it was hard. Hard to spend time with someone and know, all the time, what they were thinking. Every thought they had on full display… and again, there was the noise.

Convincing himself that Jake comment wasn't mean spirited but also wrong, Max stuffed the last greens into his mouth and made his way out. He wasn't going to let one comment ruin today. At least not before first class.

Just five minutes to go, Max repeated over and over.

"Come on Nick. Just ask her out. What's the worst-"

"-I know Jenny is hiding something from me. I bet Phil-"

"Oh Thirteen, it's physics. Why did it have to by physics? I know-"

"This test is gonna suuuck. How are we supposed to-"

And on and on it went. Whilst his teacher went through some part of their chemistry studies, everyone in the class was either thinking of each other in the class room or the physics test after this lesson.

Max for his part was doing his best to pretend to listen whilst making doodles in the pages of his chemistry book. He hadn't absorbed a thing since he had gone to school. All the lessons he took might have held useful information for all he knew, but all that information was drowned out by the mental shouting of his bored classmates. So he stuck to his usual mantra of counting down the minutes whilst drawing random squiggles to waste the time away.

"And what would be the resultant energy release from this reaction?" Came the actual voice of his lecturer, Mr Henderson. Of all Max's teachers, Mr Henderson, a tall Lagomorph with black patches over his cheeks and ears, was by far his most hated teacher. It was one thing to hear a teacher shout at you for what they believed to be a disregard for the rules. But Mr Henderson, Max knew, just did it because he was petty.

As a wave of hands come up, Mr Henderson ignored them all and turned directly to Max. "Would you care to enlighten us, Maxwell?"

 _Max,_ Max thought, gritting his teeth. He hated his full name being used. "…245 Greves, Sir" Max said, even pretending to pause to seem like he had worked it out, instead of just reading it from those who had their hands up and Mr Henderson.

Hiding a look of irritation, but not stifling a rather abusing inner monologue at Max, Mr Henderson just nodded and continued on.

"Well I think that will do it for the day. If all of you will stay put, Mrs Tielly will be coming in and handing out your Physics assessment. Please remove all computers from your desks and person" And with that, Mr Henderson walked out the door.

Finally, Max thought with relief. This was the only time he was slightly happy to have his weird ability. In a silent class room of people all thinking about how to answer the questions to the test, Max actually found it fun running through all the voices, finding those who seemed most confident and following them through the test. Max even made a game out of it sometimes.

"Hello Class" Came the cherry voice of Mrs Tielly, their physics teacher.

"Well I do hope you all enjoy the holidays as much as possible. I won't play the cruel game I know some of your teachers have done and stuffed you full of homework. Instead we have these" She said, proffering out the stack of exam sheets like a trophy "So I hope you've all been revising!"

And still emitting the same ungodly amount of cheer only Mrs Tielly could manage, she handed out the exams and took her place at the front of the class. "You may now start"

And Max began. He already knew who the hot contenders in the class were. Richey in the top corner was usually reliable for 75% or above. There was always Jessy who was top in the class, but she was next to him and he didn't want to raise any suspicion of cheating. He had been doing this year after year and had learnt, after a few close shaves, that he needed to be careful with reading his classmates minds. Partially so people didn't think he was cheating… when he was, but mostly so people didn't figure out, from what clues he left, exactly what he was doing. So he needed to be carefully what he copied, especially with the working out.

 _So, best do a mix of James and Richey. They are going at the same pace. Just swap between them for each question,_ Max thought as he flipped the test over and started writing.

And so, with 10 minutes to spare and feeling especially confident, Max put down his pencil and stared out of the window happy. The noise of people working out figures and remembering names and formulas was far easier to handle then the internal gossip he usually heard.

He didn't notice as his paper was picked up by his teacher and eventually, as the ten minutes went by, everyone else's. He idly saw her place the papers into the scanner on her desk and watch them flash, disappear and then, from his teachers perspective, become a file on his computer. Already marked.

 _Digital hard light paper… what was wrong with just normal paper?_ Max thought idly as he glanced again at the clock

"Thank you everyone. You can now all go" Mrs Tielly said happily.

Max was already out of his seat and on his way to the door, with the rest of the mob, when he heard his teacher add "Max. I've just received a message from the head teacher. Could you go to room 67B please?"

Max felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise. "Um, miss. Is there a problem?" Max said as he desperately tried to read her mind and see what trouble he might have fallen into.

"I'm afraid I do not know the details Max. But please do not keep the head teacher waiting"

Max felt chills run up his spine as he nodded and made his way. He passed his classmates who all suddenly started thinking about him, all imagining what Max had done. Some were not so kind in their guess work, but Max ignored them. He hadn't ever been asked to see the headmaster. He had made it a really big point in his time at school to be as unnoticed as possible.

 _Doesn't matter. Just get in there, read his mind and figure it out from there…. Easy,_ Max thought as he tried to calm himself down.

Nearly there, Max walked through the final hallway, looking bitterly at his schoolmates making their way home, finally free of school, whilst he was… well, maybe in trouble? If he was in trouble, he would be going to the head teachers room, right? 67B was just a large classroom for the seniors, if he remembered correctly.

Max stopped at Room 67B and knocked.

"Come in please" Came a voice.

Feeling more and more unsure, Max opened the door and looked inside. Inside was one of the senior teachers Max had seen on occasion, but had never been taught by. He was tall for a Lagomorph and wore a suit, like all the teachers here, but seemed to try and add some 'fun' to his outfit by wearing a tie with smiley faces on it. Max pondered, trying to remember his name…

"Hello Max. I'm Dylan. I don't believe we've met" He said happily.

 _Teacher who likes to be called by his first name and wears that tie… hate him already._

Max just shook his head as he looked over the room. Or really, over the one item sitting in the centre of the room. A single desk had been placed in the very middle of the class room. A class room designed to hold over 50 students… It did not look welcoming.

"I've been asked by the headmaster to monitor you during a test" Dylan said cheerfully

"Test? But sir, I thought all tests were-" Max said, trying desperately to not make his voice come out so pathetically.

"This is just a standard test covering the material you've studied over the year. You have nothing to worry about. Now, please be seated. You have 30 minutes"

Max looked back at the desk and back to Dylan. Nothing to worry about. That had been a straight lie. He could see it, plain as day, printed in his thoughts. Someone had reported Max of cheating, and the report had been taken seriously enough to have a bespoke exam made up to test him.

Max suddenly felt mortified. This was one of the worst case scenarios he had thought up whilst he cheated his way through school. Being trapped alone, with a test of questions he technically should be able to breeze through, based on his other work but actually having no idea how to do any of it.

 _Great Fluffy one, I could get 0. I don't know any of the stuff I wrote down! I just wrote it. And if I get a 0… there's no way I can argue my way out of this!_

Max had all this running through his head as he walked up to the desk and sat down. With a shaking hand, he turned over the page and saw… gibberish. All of it gibberish. Even stuff from the physics test he had just taken, if only with different examples to follow… all of it meant nothing to Max.

Max looked up, into the eyes of his new teacher and saw… contempt. He knew, just by looking at Max, that he was a cheater. He could see it all in his thoughts as he questioned why he had to waste his afternoon on some lazy student unable to work for his grades, forcing him to write up a paper just to…

Max nearly snapped his pen in half. _Dylan wrote the exam! He had the answers to it. Infact, if I look through all the junk he he's mentally spouting about wanting to finish up and get home… yes! All the answers. All the answers to the questions are just spinning around, still fresh in his mind! SCORE!_

Visibly sagging with relief, Max stormed through the test. Screw taking his time, pretending to be slow. He just answered each question with the direct answer and put down his pen. It had taken 5 minutes"

"Done" Max said, putting down his pen victoriously.

"You are?" Dylan asked, actually taken aback at how quickly Max had gone through the test.

"Yes sir. Is that a problem?" Max asked, trying and failing to keep the smug air out of his voice.

"Hmm" Dylan said, walking forward and taking the test off the table. He didn't look convinced but still, taking the paper he put it on the main desks scanner and…

"Huh, 100%" Dylan said, sounding impressed. "Very well done"

"Thank you sir" Max said, already brimming with pride as he saw Dylan's thoughts do a 180. He could see the teacher feeling guilty at his earlier assumptions.

 _Yeah, better be sorry,_ Max thought, not caring that Dylan's original opinion had been entirely correct.

"Right, well. I think that will-" Dylan said, getting up before both he and Max tuned at hearing the door open.

In stepped another Lagomorph. He though, unlike all the teachers at the school who had to wear a suit and tie, worse a large black trench coat and sun glasses. The trench coat was so big that it nearly dragged at the floor and the top, fully zipped, completely covered the guy's mouth. His mouth hidden by the coat and wearing shades, all Max could see to distinguish him from anyone else was the guys ear… ear, as in one ear. There other ear ended at a nub, looking no more than 4 inches long. To Max, the guy looked tough.

"Thank you Mr Rogers. I would like to speak to Max alone now, if that is alright"

"Oh, um. Sergeant, of course." Dylan said as he took up his notes and left quickly. Too quick for Max to think about reading his mind before it was too late.

 _Sergeant? As in the military?_ , Max thought, completely bewildered at what was going on.

"Hello Max. My name is Sergeant Collins. But Collins will be fine between the two of us" He said as soon as the door closed.

Max guessed only from the tone that the comment was meant to be taken as a friendly one. He had to guess whilst he couldn't see the guy smile or show any emotion with his coat and glasses in place.

"Um, hello" Max said, feeling again worried about what was going on.

"I bet you are wondering what's going on. With the test and me turning up."

Max nodded stupidly. When he guessed he was supposed to say something else he said "Yes, sir-"

"Ah ah, what did I say?" Collins said, standing opposite Max, leaning casually against the main teachers desk.

"Um, Yes.. Collins, sir. I did wonder that"

"Well, that's understandable. To start off with, I'll introduce myself properly. My Name is Sergeant Hunter Collins. I work for the military. Specifically, a certain branch of the military which handles…. Unique individuals"

Max heard alarm bells going off one after another inside his head. Unique individuals did not sound good. "Um, and why are you here, Sir- Collins.." Max said, correcting himself at the end.

A long silence descended as Hunter looked hard at Max. Even through the shades, Max could make out the tiny dots that were his pupils digging into him.

"We both know what I mean by that Max" He said simply.

"But… but I don't…. I'm not special. My grades are average…" Max suddenly remembered the test he just took and grabbed onto it like a life raft.

"The Test!" Max blurted out. "That was just a fluke. All the questions were the ones I happened to revise the day before. It was just luck I went through it so-"

"Max" said Sergeant Collins, this time with the tone of someone used to giving orders and expecting them to be done without comment. "There is no point in lying. We know who you are…"

And with this, Collins slowly unzipped the front of his coat. "And anyone else who listens to the recording I have been making of this conversation will also know"

Max looked at Collins in bewilderment as unzipped the top of his coat to show the whole of his face and then take out a small metal box Max guessed was a recorder.

"They will know or at least question how you knew my name… and why you were the only one speaking the entire time, since Mr Rogers left the room" Collins said… no. Max felt himself go very cold. Collins hadn't said that last part. His mouth hadn't moved one bit. Max had been reading his mind.

He had been reading his mind and just assuming it had been Collins speaking. Max looked down in dread at the recorder. Collins had been thinking his way through the conversation the entire time. He had tricked Max. Completely tricked him into revealing himself.

Collins, now actually speaking in the same commanding voice he held in his own mind said "Congratulations Max. You passed the interview"

It was 10 painful minutes later where Max found himself in the head teachers waiting room, sitting next to Sergeant Collins. Max hadn't said a word since he left the room. All he could do was imagine every possible way this could end, and all his imagination could come up with was one horrible scenario after the other. He being ousted as a freak. Being arrested. Being experimented on…

He could feel himself getting sick. In fact, he could feel himself about to be sick. He could taste the bile at the back of his throat.

 _It's over. It's all over_ , Max repeated in his mind. _I was so careful. I never told anyone. I never stood out… much… how?_

As if detecting the distress Max was in, Sergeant Collins put a reassuring hand on Max's shoulder.

"No need to be scared lad. You might not believe it now, but us finding you is probably the best thing that could have happened to you"

Max just shivered, not sure whether to access the reassurances of this stranger.

"What happens now?" Max asked in a timid voice.

Collins paused for a few seconds. This surprised Max as, during the time he had been waiting with him and now, especially now he was paying attention, he couldn't hear the sergeants thoughts.

Before he could answer, Max asked a second question, which suddenly seemed infinitely more important.

"Are you… like me?" Max asked, this time hope bleeding out, and obvious to Collins as he looked down at the desperate expression on Max's face.

"No lad. I'm not gifted, as we call it. But, if you are wondering why you cannot read my mind, it is because I have had training on how to block passive mind reading."

He noted the look on Max's face and quickly added "But there are others like you Max. Other gifted. That's, in fact, my job. I take in reports of those we believe might have the gift and test them out"

"So there are others like me? I'm not… under arrest or something?" Max said, almost sounding embarrassed at the last part.

This actually caused Collins to burst out into a quick set of deep, genuine chuckles. "No, no Max. You are not under arrest or in trouble of any kind, if you are wondering about the cheating"

Max suddenly looked concerned. "I can explain, I, I" Max tried to think of an excuse but only blurted out "I couldn't help it! I couldn't concentrate, with all the… the…"

"Noise?" Collins finished for Max. When he said Max nod, emphatically, he grinned and continued. "It's not an uncommon story for me Max, with those I meet. No the cheating will not be a problem. You were not educated in the proper environment to handle you gifts. As I said Max, you have not been captured. You've been discovered."

Collins didn't expand on the subject any further and the two descended into an uncomfortable silence. Uncomfortable at least for Max, who still wanted to know more about this 'Gift' thing. He was just about to press the matter further when another military looking guy walked out of the office for the head master. This guy was wearing an actual uniform and stood to attention next to Collins.

"The papers have been signed and the couple understand the situation sir."

Collins nodded and stood up, still holding Max by the shoulder, forcing him to stand as well.

"Come with me Max. It might be best to speak with your parents before we leave."

Max suddenly felt horribly sick again. His parents? They knew?!

Not given a chance to stop and collect his thoughts, he was gently pushed through the door. Inside the head masters room where his parents. His mother, looking more collected but far more worried than this morning was standing next to the desk, with a forced smile. She wore a smart dress and bright red handbag she almost seemed to be using as a shield.

Max's father, a grim, serious person by nature, also seemed to be matching his wife's forced smile. He, obviously called from work, wore his factory clothes, not even bothering to take off his high visibility jacket whilst indoors. Max knew why this was. His father always liked to remind those around him he was a working man. Max had always seen the idea buzzing around his father's head that showing he did solid sweat drenching work for a living was a matter of the greatest pride.

Max wouldn't have called his dad unkind, but he had always found it hard to talk to him. He always felt like the runt of the litter when he asked him something.

To Max, speaking to either his mother or father now seemed far harder than he had ever experienced. And seeing those forced expressions on their faces seemed far worse than shock or anger.

"Mum, Dad. I… I…" Max just stood there, trying desperately to say something. Anything! The truth, another lie. Just something to break the horrible silence he felt he had to fill.

"… I. I really…." Max stuttered, actually feeling close to crying. "I didn't mean to hide it, I just-"

"It's alright lad. The Corporal explain everything." His father said trying to sound happy and confident and failing horribly. "This is all… well it's different… But they have said they can always use those with your gifts son."

Max just nodded, still feeling sick as his father just made the whole thing sound normal, like he was going through puberty or something.

"They said you will be getting a first class education, Max" His mother said, trying to sound proud. "You should be grateful for what these kind gentlemen will be doing for you"

Max just nodded again. Even through their stiff, uncomfortable demeanour, Max couldn't see in their minds anything suggesting disgust or revulsion, but equally he could barely make out other things like concern or fear, for his sake. All he saw, repeating over and over was a figure. A figure both kept bouncing around then inner mind, smashing through their other thoughts.

300,000. Over and over

"Well lad. Do us proud. And be sure to keep in touch whilst your…" His father looked over at Collins who just shook his head. "Well… try your best, son"

His father gave Max a few manly pats on his other shoulder and his mother give him a quick tight hug before he was led out.

Max, suddenly in a daze and looking back at the retreating office, felt horribly lost. _What had just happened?_

"What just happened" Max then said out loud as Collins took him through the school and out the main entrance where he saw a large hover car waiting for the two of them, park right outside the school entrance.

"What do you mean?" Collins asked, still guiding him and, as Max noticed, not letting go of his shoulder.

"My mum and dad… they just… they seemed distracted. All they did the entire time was think the number 300,000 over and over"

Collins, pausing just outside the gate of the school gave a strange look down to Max. It took him a few seconds to recognise it as… pity?

"Max, we cannot allow someone gifted, such as yourself to go around untrained. We will be taking you to a special military school where you will be re-schooled and additionally how to train you powers. After this, you will be asked. I repeat, ASKED, not forced, to join a military unit of those who also hold the gift. I will not go into this unit with you until you have finished your training but, if you wish to return to normal civil life, you are free to"

Max waited as Collins paused for a while. He then, as if to fill in the gap said "… but?"

"… but, your training and other education is not cheap. If you wish to leave, you will be asked, over time to pay back your fees. I promise you, these will not be overwhelming. Also…" Collins again paused and seemed to look almost guilty. "… Max, part of this program requires us to take in child such as yourself and completely take over your upbringing. You effectively become a child of the military, legally speaking."

"What?" Max asked, honestly confused at this.

"We effectively adopt you Max. We take over, the military as a whole, as your parents. Your own biological parents have just signed your adoption papers"

"…what?" Max asked, in a much smaller voice, eyes widening at the implication Collins had made. "My parents… gave me away?"

Collins, after a few seconds slowly nodded to Max. Again he took his shoulder and gently pushed him to the car. Max barely resisted. All he could do was look back at the school, hoping in a small way this was all a mistake.

Suddenly remember his original question Max asked "And the number? 300,000?"

Collins, who had obviously expected this, just pushed Max to the car and opened the back door for him. Nodding for him to get inside, Max, still looking lost and confused hopped into the large back seat and belted himself in.

"Max..." Collins said, causing Max too look up at him, door still open and held by him. "… 300,000. That's the number of units we paid your parents to sign the adoption forms. That's how much we paid for you"

And with that, Collins closed the door.


	19. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Max looked as the car door closed and his younger self was driven away. He saw it all from the tiny screen of the propped up TV standing in front of him. There had even been static in the picture whilst Max watched his past self's last day of school.

"Max?" Philip asked, obviously noticing a difference in him.

"Uh… yeah?" Max said, distracted as he took in what he saw. His eyes were still glued on the set.

 _What the hell? Was that me… wow…_

 _…I was a nerd. Wait, nerd means intelligent. No, I was a dork. Was I really so… tiny?_ Max thought, ignoring for the moment the bigger implications on what he just watched. The whole psychic powers military thing could wait till later.

"So Max, what did you see?"

"Stuff" Max said as he got up and turned away from the screen.

"…Stuff" Philip repeated. He let the statement stand, waiting for Max to speak but Max wasn't biting. He had very little intention to speak about Walter to his psychiatrist and none what so ever to describe what he just saw. No way he was gonna mention any of this until he knew the whole story.

"Put me back in" Max said simply, reflecting on the hypnosis. In one way he had been watching everything from his past like he had been watching a TV show, but in another, he had been seeing the world through his own eyes, thinking the same timid thoughts his past self had.

"Afraid not Max. We will have to put that off till the session after our next one" Philip said, picking up the TV and walking over to his desk.

"Wait, why? And why the session after the next" Max asked irritably. Was he just holding out on him because he didn't say anything about what he saw?

"Well we cannot do anymore now Max, as I believe you have an appointment with a client soon. You mentioned it when you came in" Philip said simply, already fishing out his appointment book and looking it over.

"And the reason we cannot just continue on in our next session?" Max said, annoyed that he had forgotten his appointment with Cobra.

"Because Max" Philip said, circling a few dates and looking directly at Max, his usual good nature seeming to drop. "Our next session will be focusing on the topic we have been avoiding from our first session. The event from three weeks ago"

Max tried not to show the sudden unease that came over him. "Do we have to do it next session? I mean why the hurry? I was all happy to talk about it in our first session"

Philip nodded, as if his very point had been made by Max "It's for that exact reason we need to go over it Max." And that's all he said as he pointed out a time tomorrow and the day after that Max could come in.

Max, still shaken by this news, but mostly the information from his regression session, just signed his name and walked out.

 _Too much…. Too much going on… Just focus on work,_ Max thought desperately, trying to just shelve everything that had happened over the last couple days to one side. He could deal with all that later.

And with that Max left the building and made his way back to his office. The trip had been short enough that, without the need to go breaking all the city speed limits, Max even had enough time to clean the office so more before Cobra arrived. He didn't of course. But the time he could have used to clean was also the time he could use to fix a cheese filled snack, which turned out to be the winning option.

Max had already grabbed half of the stuff from the fridge that didn't try to attack him, and started forming he next potential heart attack when he sighed and looked out the window. It was strange but, with all the things that had happened to him recently, finding out he had another personality inside his head which wanted to kill him, finding out he had been abducted by a military unit for a race of people he didn't really know anything about… all this seemed secondary to the thought of speaking about what happened three weeks ago.

The event was still so damned fresh in his mind. The event had buried him for three whole weeks, keeping him awake, even following him into his dreams. Now was the first time he had started…. Well, ignoring it. Forgetting about it and now Philip wanted to go bringing it up again.

 _It didn't matter. It was in the past, just like those memories from my childhood. It doesn't matter now…._

Knock, knock.

"One sec" Max said losing his train of thought. He turned and walked to the door as he threw the remains of his already bubbling sandwich in the bin. He had been glad he had bought the extra thick bin liners a couple weeks ago. The last meal he threw away half eaten had dissolved through the floor like Alien acid blood.

Opening the door, he was faced with an Agent Cobra. And yes, he was an agent. Max as president had mostly spent his time around Agent Superball and a couple other secret service types, but they were all of the same stock. Same suit, same glasses, same tie and clip, with the only major difference was Agent Cobra was built like a tank. Even when Max was used to looking up to make eye contact with other people he had to take a step back to manage it with Cobra.

"Hello Sir" He said in his thick gravelly voice. "I am Cobra Bubbles. Formally with the CIA"

Max froze and then tried to stop the grin from spreading over his face. He tried, he honestly did, but the grin and then the sniggering just came up.

Bubbles didn't look surprised at the reaction and looked patiently at Max when he thought he was under control.

Max, pushing down on or two sniggers said "Bubbles (snigger) how may I help you?"

"I am acting on behalf of another party. He is just waiting in the hallway." With that, Agent Cobra Bubbles called back into the hall "You can come in now Pleakley"

"Ok, so you have a job for me. That's fine, though I do have just two nearly created rules"

Bubbles, still showing nothing but the same stoic expression since he entered the office just asked "Which are?"

"No jobs involving ancient dark gods. The last job involving them didn't go well" Max said, lifting one finger.

To his surprise Bubbles nodded to this, as if the restriction was a perfectly ordinary one to make in his profession.

"And second, no jobs involving aliens. For the same reason. I'm not in the mood to handle anymore ali-" Max said, just about to raise his second finger when he saw Pleakley enter the room.

Pleakley stood they, on all 4 of his tentacle like feet, looking over to Max with his one giant eye…

"Hello" He said, in a light friendly tone

"Hi" Max said, mirror the same gleeful tone before turning back to Bubbles

"Get out" He said flatly, dropping all fake cheer and pointing to the door

Bubbles looked from Max and back to Pleakley, expression not changing, but still showing some discomfort.

"Mr… Max, we really do need your aid" Bubbles said, trying to sound reasonable. "The situation is complicated"

"Don't care. Out" Max said simply, already walking up the alien in front of him who was proffering his hand.

"Hello, my name is- GAH" Pleakley began before Max forcefully turned him around and started to push him out the door.

"Is there a problem? Did we get some local custom wrong Mr Bubbles?" Pleakley asked desperately as Max kept pushing him to the door, not bothering to listen.

"Max, please. Be reasonable. We just need you to help us track down someone who's gone missing"

"Two people" Pleakley corrected "We still need to find Stitch"

 _…. Oh god no…_

Max stopped pushing Pleakley out the door and felt the urge to run away from all things alien drain out of him

"Stitch… let me guess. Little blue guy, pointy teeth, four arms…" Max said in a groan.

Both Pleakley and Bubbles shared a look before they both nodded at him.

"… DAMMIT!" Max snapped and stormed back into the office. "Fine... fine….(Urgh), what's the case"


	20. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

To his surprise, it was Pleakley who took over the introductions instead of Bubbles, who just closed the door to the office and stood guard over it.

 _A natural door guarder. Can see why he's friends with Superball,_ Max mused as he put his attention back on Pleakley.

"You see Max, we came to earth, myself and a Doctor Jumba, to chase down Stitch, an experiment Doctor Jumba made that… well got him arrested. Stitch had escaped the authorities and with my knowledge of Earth and Jumba's knowledge of Stitch, or experiment 626 as we called him, we were sent after him"

Pleakley, Max noticed, seemed irritatingly polite. He was generally happy and hadn't responded at all to Max's previous rudeness and man handling. Max instantly felt himself wanting to see how far he could push Pleakley's buttons before he would snap, but decided against it.

"Well, I won't go into details but Stitch was cleared by the Galactic President herself after a rather harrowing set of adventures"

 _Harrowing? Adventures… must… repress urge… to troll._

"And we all ended up living with a truly wonderful family in Hawaii. Lilo is a truly one of a kind child and Nani, Lilo's older sister is just sooo accommodating to us all, I…" Pleakley slowly dropped the topic as he noticed the look in Max's eye.

"Anyway" Pleakley said with a weak laugh "We've been living on the island for a two years now… met some other experiments. I won't go into that either, too long a story. But one day, a week ago Jumba suddenly disappeared"

"Disappeared?" Max said, who had been wondering when his new client would get to the point.

"Yes, just gone and off. No message. Nothing. We didn't know what to do but then Stitch left as well. He told us he was going after Jumba. Said he could track him or something. But he went just as suddenly. We followed the tracking device in his ship and it shows he landed here, in New York"

It was then, when this was sinking in that Agent Bubbles spoke up. "The situation with Stitch is a sensitive one. He is not just an alien but technically a dangerous experiment. One originally designed to take out entire cities."

Bubbles spotted a look made by Pleakley and added, if only for his benefit. "I do not personally believe Stitch capable of such acts since he came to Earth and met the Hawaiians Lilo and Nani. But his current standing on the Intergalactic Court is a tenuous one. And that is only Stitch. Dr Jumba is technically considered even more dangerous."

"Go on" Max said, wondering if he should mention he had already met their Stitch and the encounter had not been a friendly one.

"He has the knowledge to create more creatures like Stitch. The knowledge on how to create such living weapons of mass destruction is considering far more dangerous then what one of his creations can do. His position with the Galactic Council is even more tenuous. He is technically carrying out his prison sentence here on Earth."

Bubbles then, showing the only emotion Max had seen out of him so far, looked over at Pleakley and glared over at him. An impressive feat considering he was wearing shades. "So, when Jumba went missing, Pleakley decided the first thing to do was report it to the Grand Councilwoman herself"

The glare dropping and looking back at Max. "Superball told me you have experience with…. Exceptional cases such as this. Do you believe you could help us?"

Max looked between the Agent and the cyclops in front of him, not answering straight away. He then looked at the mass of sticky notes on the main desk. The notes for the current case he was on…

Sighing, Max got out of Sam's old chair and went over to his original desk. The school unit that now stood discarded in the corner of the office. With a horrible grating sound Max dragged over the desk next to the larger one.

"Ok…" Max said, going back to the main desk and fishing out a pen and set of post stick notes. "… Give me all the details on this Jumba guy"

2 Hours later

"And then what happened" Max said, ripping off another sticky note.

"Well the Grand Councilwoman had just arrived on Earth to arrest Stitch, me and Jumba when… (sniff). I am sorry to pause but the smoke in there air. Is that what you Earth people call incense?"

"No" Agent Bubbles said simply, waving his hand in the air to clear the smoke around him. "We call it second hand tobacco smoke. Max, sir. Could you please put that out?"

"Fascinating" drawled Pleakley as he studied the cigarette in Max's hand.

Max sighed, flicking the embers off his cigarette idly. Generally he never used to smoke all that much. Only on the odd occasion, like when he was at the Inventory and he thought proper poker playing should only be done with a fine cloud of thick cigar smoke settled around the players. But after Sam's death he had been going through packs day after day. He had cut back but not completely.

Max noted the annoyed look on Bubbles face as he stared over at Pleakley who was happily sniffing up the smoke trails in front of him like he was smelling a freshly picked daisy. Deciding he could be irritating once he had the full story he acquiesced and crushed the cigarette in his hand and flicked the remains into the bin.

"Ok, go on" Bubbles said, indicating Pleakley could finish.

"Right. And that's when The Grand Councilwoman decided Stitch, me and Jumba could stay on the island, with Lilo and Nani" Pleakley said, ending the story with a forlorn look, as is reminiscing at a happy memory.

 _And they all lived happily ever after…_ Max thought to himself sarcastically as he wrote the last detail down on a yellow sticky note and slapped it on a free space on the small desk. He had run out of room on his tiny school desk and chair far faster than on Sam's old desk.

 _As ideas go, this is a pretty stupid method of keeping notes,_ Max thought as he looked down at his desk and chair, both appearing as if they had suddenly evolved and produced a set of yellow vibrant scales. It looked ridiculous.

 _Problem for another day._ "OK. And beyond that, you've lived on the island together? No real problems since then?"

It was Agent Bubbles who took over. "There are only two known people, also aliens, who have caused… some mischief with experiment 626 and his adopted family. A former captain of the guard for the Galactic Council and a former colleague of Dr Jumba. Both were prime suspects but through our own investigations, both have been captured and eliminated-"

Max perked up. "Really?" He said gleefully before laying on his thickest presidential speaking voice and adding "That'll send a clear message to those illegal extra-terrestrial immigrants"

"…eliminated as suspects" Bubbles finished, again showing that small but noticeable tone of irritation in his voice.

"Oh. More boring. But OK." Max said, looking back down to the desk at the various notes he had made. Though, like the bigger, equally sticky-note infested desk, the details were randomly placed, Max quickly ran through the events as Pleakley had described them, from Dr Jumba creating this monster thing called Experiment 626 (later named Stitch). From there Max had asked about the Grand Councilwoman, her capture and trial of Jumba, followed by his incarceration.

The whole Stitch escaping, getting to Earth and forming a loving bond with a sweet cynical Hawaiian girl really didn't interest Max. Not relating to the facts of the case, but emotional. Pleakley had been telling the whole story like some wonderful adventure, where a poor little experiment went on a journey of discovery, finding out he didn't need to go around breaking stuff…

… and as it happens, Max's first encounter with the little guy was to have his car thrown on top of him. As first impressions went, Max couldn't think of any worse.

A memory of his first encounter speaking with Cocky suddenly appeared to before him sharp focus, as if to answer his own rhetorical question. Feeling his mood darken, Max focused back on the case to distract him.

"Ok, I think I have everything I need to know… this guy really doesn't sound like he should be that hard to find, based on the picture you gave me" Max said, staring at the family picture he held of Stitch, Jumba, Pleakley and even a smiling Agent Bubbles. All of them were circled around, as Max had been told, Lilo and Nani.

Max focused on the four eyed whale of an alien at the back of the picture. He towered over everyone else and… well his features wouldn't get lost in a crowd, even in New York.

"Ok. I'll take the case. Find this guy, who's somewhere in the city. Sounds easy. Sounds simple" Max said, showing a perfectly innocent pearl white grin

 _Wait for it… wait for it…._

"…There is one proble-" Bubbles said uncomfortably

"KNEW IT!" Max said happily, jumping up and pointing repeatedly at Bubbles. "I knew there would be something else. Don't tell me, a door that needs 3 keys that are held by three-"

"There's a deadline" Bubbles said simply.

Max paused and shrugged. "…My second guess. So why the time limit… which you also haven't told me"

Bubbles, to Max's surprise, suddenly glared over to Pleakley, who gave an embarrassed chuckle.

"Well you see" He began, already using the universal tone that said, 'though I might have screwed up, it was by no real fault of my own, and if you are a reasonable person you will of course see that as well'. "When Jumba disappeared and Agent Bubbles got involved, we spent a good long while looking through the island, trying to track him down… and-"

"After I asked you specifically not to do so" Bubbles cut in.

"… After Mr Bubbles did indeed say not to do so" Pleakley added, as if that point was hardly an important detail. "I still thought it would be a good idea to, at the very least, inform the Council Woman of the problem"

"The problem of Jumba disappearing off the island. With no sign of struggle. A planet he has been put under house arrest. The Council Woman has taken the view that Doctor Jumba has left to try and either continue his work or leave the planet. Neither of which are things she is happy with"

"Don't you guys have a space ship at hand?" Max ask, adding a couple extra post stick notes for 'No sign of struggle' and 'Clock is ticking'.

"One that can leave the atmosphere, which is what Stitch took." Pleakley added helpfully. "It cannot make interstellar trips. And the nearest inhabited planet is over-"

Pleakley paused as a low pitched whine suddenly erupted from his coat pocket. Pleakley suddenly went pale, which was impressive considering his natural complexion, as he took out a small device with a single blinking red button.

There was a stillness in the room as Max looked curiously at the flashing orb whilst Pleakley and Agent Bubbles shared a worried look.

"What was that Earth expression you mentioned before Mr Bubbles?" Pleakley said, looking back at the device in his hands, as if he held a freshly armed bomb.

"Speak of the Devil?" Agent Bubbles suggested.

"Yes, that one." He replied quietly as he timidly pushed the button.

In an instant the object in Pleakley's hand began to glow a dull pulsing blue light as it hovered off his hand and towards the centre of the room, between Max, Bubbles and the now trembling Pleakley.

The tiny orb suddenly began to spin wildly in place as tiny particles of light began to pour from it. The pulses quickened in pace, as did the low whine became a thunderous booming.

"Are skype calls from space always this epic!?" Max shouted over the sound of the drumming, trying to shield his eyes and ears from the sudden disco that had spawned in his office.

As the lights and sounded faded in an instant, all looked at the centre of the room, where now was standing a tall elegant looking alien. The Councilwoman stood there in what was obviously her robes of office, which included a black and gold waist coat, a red cape and, as Max considered it, the most ludicrous looking shoulder pads he had ever seen. It was like a set of deer antlers curving around from her back and circling her face.

Despite the last part of her attire looking a little comical, she still dominated the room with an imperial glare. Max was already jealous. He had tried after being elected president to get a good glare like that going.

"Agent Wendy Pleakley" The Council Women said calmly.

"Wendy?" Max said, sniggering to Agent Bubbles.

"Yes Your Highness?" Pleakley replied in a shaky voice.

"How goes the search on Doctor Jumba. I hope you have news on the matter?"

"Oh, um, YES! Yes Your Highness, we have news" Pleakley said desperately, arms and limbs flailing as he ran over to Max. Placing one hand on Max's should Pleakley continued "We have confirmed Jumba's location is somewhere here in this city and with the help of Agent Bubbles, we have purchased the services of an expert investigator"

"You haven't paid me" Max said simply, slapping away Pleakley's hand as he walked forward toward the Council Women, giving her his best winning smile

The Councilwoman, on her part, looked down and recoiled at Max, saying in startled voice "Another experiment?! He's horrific! Is this what Jumba has been working?"

Max's smile didn't so much fall, but transform from the welcoming grin he used to try and give the impression that he didn't have extremely violent tendencies, to the smile he used before he was about to be extremely violent. It didn't make the expression of revulsion on the Council Women's face any better though.

"I would have you know, madam, I am a Lagomorph" Max said, trying to sound just as airy as she had earlier.

"Oh, I see. Very well then" The Councilwoman said, unapologetic at her earlier comment. "And you have been hired to retrieve the good doctor"

"Yeerrp" Max drawled, too tired to come up with a proper patronising retort.

"Good. Then the first thing we need to confirm is if Jumba has left the planet" The Council Women said promptly.

"He couldn't have done. He left the only ship behind and this is a Class B planet. Vehicles that can travel even outside this planets solar system haven't been created yet." Pleakley shot back quickly, desperate to put the Council Woman at ease.

"And it is not possible he could have constructed such a vehicle since disappearing?" The Council Woman replied coolly. "He is capable of such a feat I believe."

"Hmm, he would need the right materials to make the parts. Making one from scratch with what we have available here on Earth… and if he wanted to do that, he would have taken the other ship, even if only for parts" Pleakley said, sounding less sure under the Council Woman's heavy gaze.

"…But it is a possibility" The comment was dripping with threat. Obviously if Jumba had left Earth with no given reason and considering what he knew, the ramifications could be immense.

That was what Max should have gathered from the discussion, but his mind kept tuning out all the political problems suddenly on his door step and thinking about his earlier session with Philip. He wanted to get the next session over and done with as quickly as possible.

"Beyond this investigator we must discuss this with your worlds leader, to inform her or him of the very real need to find Doctor Jumba and quickly" The Council Woman said, pacing away from the now relieved looking Pleakley and instead aimed the comment at Agent Bubbles.

He at least seemed to be able to handle himself better as he replied smoothly "There is no planetary leader of Earth. It is made up of smaller lands and areas within those lands that have their own rulers"

"Fine" The Councilwoman replied, disdainfully. "If there is no central leader then we at least need to contact the leader of the area you are all currently residing in"

There was an awkward pause from Agent Bubbles. He seemed intent on not looking directly at the now grinning Max.

"Oh, I think my adorably long ears are burning" Max said, looking as if he was trying to hide a blush.

The Councilwoman turned to Max in confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

With what seemed like great reluctance Agent Bubbles said in a resigned voice "Max, the one we requested to investigate Jumba's disappearance… is also the freely elected leader of the United States… in which we currently reside"

Max grinned ear to ear as he stood up straight and performed a casual Nixon Victory Salute, as if this illustrated the point.

"…(sigh) Very well. Max, was it? What news do you have on Jumba's location. Do you believe he has left the planet" The Council Woman said, sounding slightly less patronising then she had earlier.

Max was about to say, No, I'm only just got the case and I have no clue about any of this rubbish, when he saw Agent Bubbles desperately make a sign at him in his peripheral vision.

 _What is he…_ Max thought idly, until he suddenly recognised the hand gesture as one Superball had taught it. A sign every president had been taught for the last two centuries by their respective secret service team.

"Oh" Max then cleared his throat and said clearly. "We have been informed of the disappearance of Jumba and can confirm no reports of him leaving the planet"

All of which was true. Max had been informed of the disappearance, if only one hour ago, and he had been given no reports of Jumba leaving the planet. Because, as mentioned earlier, Max received no information from government officials at any given time. Plausible Deniability. Something that Superball had drilled into him that, as president, there was a lot more stuff Max wouldn't want to know rather than know, so he could in fact say whatever he liked in public.

This hadn't really meant anything to Max who was still treating his raise to power like a roller coaster. That is, guessing it would be an exciting but short ride filled with lots of people screaming.

But the sign was something Superball had taught him when giving speeches which meant deny everything.

"That is something at least" The Councilwoman said, taking the clear answer to mean Max had been honest.

"But we still need to make a plans until the real officers arrive to track Jumba down. They should be ready to leave soon but anything you can find out beforehand would most likely be of use"

 _Why is it my luck to meet all the crappy Aliens…_ Max thought, seething.

"You will need to compile a list of possible locations and start a sweep of the city-" The Councilwoman began before a sound burst into the room.

Ring Ring

 _Oh thank god_ , Max thought.

"What is that sound?" The Council Women asked, obviously annoyed to be interrupted.

"Phone. Be right with you" Max said, grinning apologetically as he walked away from the suddenly annoyed Council Women and over to the phone. He noticed as he turned Pleakley desperately shaking his head at Max, as it trying to say ignoring the Council Women was not a good idea.

Already aware of that and going ahead for that exact reason, Max picked up the phone and leaned against the stand, facing the rest of the group in his office with a relaxed attitude.

"Hey there. Who's calling?" Max said conversationally.

"Hello Max" Came the voice of The Geek. "I've just got the results of the tests you asked for"

"Fantastic" Max said, trying desperately to remember what he had asked for. He didn't think well when sleep deprived.

"Is now a good time?" Darla asked

Max, knowing he might be pushing the matter turned from Pleakley, Agent Bubbles and the now impatient looking Council Woman as he repeated her question "Is now a good time…" to the whole room.

He saw Bubbles mine the words no and Pleakley again kept shaking his head.

"Yeah, now's as good a time as any" Max replied cheerily, leaning back and soaking in the rage in the room. He knew deep down he was being childish, even more so then usual. But he was tired and after his earlier session with Philip, on edge.

"Ok well…. I'll be honest Max, we've had our best guys over here, and that includes me, run every known test imaginable on the sample you gave me. And the good news is we can see some of the chemical components of the nail."

"Some?" Max asked.

"That's also the bad news. It's weird Max" Darla said, actually sounding frustrated "Part of the DNA sequence and chemical composition come back clear as day. But other parts… it's like there's a wall around it. Every time we scan it and read it, segments of the data come back as gibberish. Like its encrypted… DNA that cannot be read. That's…."

"Alien" Max added helpfully

"Yeah, I suppose. It's just annoying. Most of the later tests we did were destructive so there isn't much left of the sample. It's annoying watching each test come back with negative results and know you have a finite number of tries left. I thought I would enjoy being back in the lab but I'm starting to miss management"

"So, find out anything useful from what did make sense?"

"One thing for certain. As I said, part of the genetic sequence is coming back correctly, and the chemical analysis did find a number of compounds that seemed to make up this thing. One, part of this guy's genetic makeup contains a certain synthetic substance you might recognise. Dryhazometosin"

"What now?" Max asked before clicking "Oh. Wait, the stuff from the warehouse that was stolen?"

"Yep. Made the comparison and it came up green. This thing is made from the stuff. Or something else that Dryhazometosin is an component of."

"Ok. Good to know, I guess" Max mused, taking out his sticky pad and making a note. Suddenly remembering Max quickly added "Did you get the other samples I sent you?"

"Other samples? What other samples?" Darla said, sounding halfway between eager and fatigued at the news.

"I just handed it to reception. One thing I got from another encounter yesterday and another from the warehouse. Could you have a look?"

"Sure. Already here and got everyone working on this." Darla said. Through the phone Max could make out the muffled command from Darla to some random lackey nearby the collect the delivery. "Ok Max. I'll have a look and come back to you with what we find."

"You're the best Geek" Max said affectionately.

"I certainly am" Darla said happily before putting the phone down.

Max heard the other end of the line go dead. He was just about to put the phone down when he spotted the impatient looks from all those in the room with him, including the apparent ruler of the Galaxy.

It was for this reason that Max decided to instead ask into the dead phone "… So… What're you wearing?"

"Mr Max" The Councilwoman yelled, stepping forward to Max and looming over him threateningly. "You will cease your conversation now and focus on the task at hand. Right now!"

Max, feeling he had pushed things a bit and for no actual reason let up. He threw the phone down casually and picked up his pad.

"As you wish, Mam" Max said, this time trying not to sound cheeky. It obviously hadn't worked judging from her expression.

"You will report you findings in five hours' time. My our investigation team are being prepped and will make their way to Earth as soon as possible. We must find Jumba and confirm if he has been kidnapped or if he is working by himself"

The comment didn't make any suggestion as to which was the worst case. And with that, and obvious tired of handling Max, the Councilwoman disappeared into a cloud of particles, leaving the spinning orb floating in the air.

"Did you really have to annoy her Max. She holds, from the perspective of the Intergalactic matters, absolute control over Earth."

"She owns Earth?" Max said, appalled that someone else could say they owned the world, other than him. (Max generally couldn't distinguish between being president and owning America and also couldn't distinguish between America and the rest of Earth"

"No, we are a class B Under Developed Planet, which is technically part of the Galactic Federation, which the Council Woman heads. We are protected by them. So for that reason it might not be a good idea to annoy someone we have had good relations with for some time"

"Eh, heard that before" Max said, remember his times meeting various diplomats when he took his role of President seriously... well, more seriously than he did now.

"Anyway, back to Jumba" Max said quickly, to change the topic. "So they really think he left on his own. But you don't"

Pleakley again looked uncomfortable about the subject "We've been on the island for over two years and I can promise you, he showed no signs of wanting to leave. He honestly seemed happy here"

"…but" Max said, as if filling in the missing word.

"But, Jumba lived in a section of Nani's house that he renovated. There was security and camera's…"

Max nodded. This point had been gone over previously. When Pleakley had looked over the footage of Jumba in his quarters, it showed him sleeping, then waking up suddenly in the middle of the night and then just leave. No struggle. No sign he had been called. He just walked out the house and disappeared.

"Doesn't look good" Max said evenly

"Maybe so, but I honestly cannot believe he just left. Not without saying goodbye at least"

 _Oh for the love of…_

"In any case, I will need to remain in this…" Pleakley looked over to the window of the office and took in the run down street outside "… fascinating city to investigate" He said this last part like a kid in a candy store. Max could even see his one eye glaze over.

"You will remain with me, if you don't mind. And we should remain close to Max so we can properly organise the investigation" Bubbles said evenly.

"You can use the rooms upstairs. They aren't taken" Max said distractedly, looking over his notes on the case.

"We can use those?"

"What?" Max said looking up at the pair. "Oh, yeah. Technically I own the building so, yeah. Go crazy up there"

Max waved them off already losing interest in the pair. He needed time to go through the details.

As soon as the two left Max quickly relit another cigarette and leaned back in the office chair.

 _Another case… another case involving Aliens... What was that thing Stitch shouted at me in the car park?_ Max thought idly as he blew out smoke rings.

"Oh yeah" Max said tiredly as he recalled the alien profanity. Just as he leaned back however a sudden wave of fatigue hit him like a stone, as if it had been waiting for him to let his guard down.

"Meega, nala kwishta" Max muttered before, finally, drifting off to sleep.


	21. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Max awoke to the sound of an alarm….

An alarm…. not his alarm. He knew that much as the cheery tunes of some annoying pop band came rampaging through his ears instead of the horrible crackling sound his alarm usually made, ever since he took his Lugar to one of its speakers. However as Max got up and stared daggers at the alarm radio, the feeling of oddness about it, about the fact that the alarm in front of him was certainly not his, seemed to fade away. He also didn't find it odd that he was sitting in bed in a kid's room surrounded by 5 other beds.

 _Oh yeah, my brothers beds… and why did I think I had shot my alarm clock?_

Max thought this as he looked back at his alarm, still assaulting him with the sounds from some pop station his younger brother Jake liked. He reflected that if he did own a gun, a broken speaker would be the minimum amount of damage this thing would receive.

Letting the thought drop Max walked out and down stairs. With the bedroom empty, he expected the kitchen to be the usual war zone that flared up twice a day. However when Max got to the room, he found the place vacant.

"What? Did I over sleep?" Max said, staring around and getting a sinking feeling in his stomach. He didn't want to be late for school and having to explain a detention to his parents did not sit well with him.

Max checked the time and saw he was up at the normal time. He then made make a quick run around the house to see if anyone was around. The living room, bedrooms, even the garden were completely empty.

"What's going on?" Max said, wondering if his whole family was playing some elaborator prank on him.

Deciding he should just head to school now before he missed first lesson, Max grabbed his bag and ran out the door.

Just as suddenly, he was at school. He didn't actually remember going through the walk, but that hardly seemed important. The important thing was all the other students. Or to be more accurate, the lack of them.

The usual crowd of students hanging outside the main building or walking in were gone. The whole area was filled a horrible silence save the hurried steps Max made as he walked up the stairs through the main doors. _Maybe there's an event or something I've forgotten._

Max hurried down the hallways, suddenly getting more and more anxious as he looked through each passing door and saw another empty room.

 _Is this an off school day?_ Max thought has he finally reached his class room and saw the same collection of unused school desks in front of him.

"By the Fluffy One, What is going on?" Max alarm, feeling paranoia kicking in.

Just as Max thought he might just leave the school and go back home, he saw a note on the main teachers desk. A note to him

Max. Please go to room 67B.

And that was it. Just instructions to go to one of the senior years rooms. He had no idea why, but since Max had nothing better to do, he decided to walk over there and see if anyone was still in the school.

And then Max was outside the room. Again, Max couldn't remember actually walking to the other side of the school. He was just there. And again Max didn't see anything wrong with that. Mostly because he was distracted by the sound of steps coming from inside the room.

 _Somebody's here in school? Great. Can see what's going,_ Max thought.

Opening the door, Max was met with…

"Hello there little buddy" Sam said happily. He stood there, in his usual ill-fitting blue suit and fedora, reaching up to the board at the front of the class, appearing to have finished writing some notes for one of the classes.

"Sam!" Max yelled happily as he ran forward… and then stopped.

 _Sam? Who was Sam?_

And then it clicked. Not like a sudden realisation of something forgotten being remember, but as if Max had known who Sam was, but hadn't expected him here. And why would he. This was his school, back on... back on.

… B'eel? That was it. His home planet. B'eel. Why had that come so hard to him?

"Um" Max said, suddenly looking down and noticing himself. He was a teenager. And that was fine… but actually now that he thought about it, it wasn't fine. He wasn't a teenage. He was a fully grown and mature kick ass Freelance Policeman… right?

"Did you want to take a seat Max? The Sergeant will be here soon" Sam said easily, suddenly ignoring Max and going back to his writing on the board.

Max was completely lost. Without knowing why, and head still spinning with questions, Max took his seat in the middle of the room, facing Sam like he was actually a teacher. And Sam didn't seem to really notice Max was there after his comment.

"Um, Sam. What's going-" Max stared before Sam held up his hand and said in a commanding voice only a teacher could manage.

"I will thank you to be quiet in class Maxwell. Just wait for the Sergeant to arrive." Sam said before ignoring Max once again and continuing to write.

Max just shut his mouth, an automatic response drilled in from years of school.

There was silence again as Max, dumbfounded, sat in the middle of a class room designed to hold around 3 dozen students with Sam writing notes on the board in front of him, seeming to be off in his own little world. This awkward situation continued for what seemed like a few hours before Max heard the door to the class room open.

At the door stood Lagomorph. A Lagomorph dressed in a long black coat covering his whole body, including most of his face. With a pair of sun glasses on Max could barely make out anything of the guy in front of him.

He didn't' say anything. Not even as Max looked at him expectantly. The Sergeant, as Max guessed, just stood beside the door, hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"Um…(cough). Hello? Are you here for me?" Max said, uneasily.

The figure just shook his head and pointed over to Sam, who was still ignoring everything around him. Max looked on at Sam, wondering why he was even here, sitting in this chair, in this room, in this building… on this planet, when…

Max let out a startled scream as something shot through his leg. The sudden shock of it and his instant reflex to grab at his leg caused him to violently topple out of his desk. Max slammed hard onto the wooden floor of the class room, panting hard and looking down at his leg. An arrow was sticking through the limb, the head poking through and covered with blood.

Max stared, unable to speak as a pool of blood slowly began to growing from his useless and twitching appendage. He didn't feel any pain, but a horrible numbing sensation, as if the limb had been severed.

"What?" Max said in a calm tiny voice, as if not fully registering what had happened to him. "What's going on?"

He looked up as the Sergeant walked up next to him and casually discarded the coat and glasses, showing…

"Cocky?!" Max shouted, a sudden jolt of fear and anger flaring up. And it was Cocky. He was standing there, as is nothing had happened, wearing those same black feathers on his back, black leather pants and finally that single nipple ring on full display to the world.

"Cocky" Max repeated, the anger winning and drowning out the fear "Do you have a death wish?!"

Cocky, as is just noticing Max looked… regretful. He didn't seem to be particularly bothered to have shot Max and instead just shook his head as he reloaded his crossbow.

"Sorry mate but you were being unreasonable"

"What?!" Max shouted again, now confusion bubbling up, swaying the anger. And something else seemed to be itching at the back of his mind, something small but seemingly important.

… deja vu?

Yes, Max thought suddenly. He remembered Cocky saying that before. It had been…

And then it hit Max. As he looked up at Cocky in sudden realisation and then over to Sam, still oblivious everything around him. Still back turned.

Again Cocky gave that sad shake of his head, as if he had been tasked with a regrettable but ultimately necessary job. He promptly turned from Max, crossbow reloaded and walked over to Sam.

"No…. not again. Please" Max said in a pitiful whimper. "Please not again"

Cocky, ignoring the quiet begging from Max, walked calming up behind Sam and took aim. Just as the tip of the crossbow touched the back of Sam's neck, Cocky turned back to Max

"Game OVER, mate"

"NO!" Max screamed, leaping out of his chair in the Freelance police office and collided with a swarm of yellow post stick notes. Breathing heavily, Max looked around at his surrounds, memories of his dream slowly coming into focus and then, like all dreams, slowly float away into the mists of his subconscious. The details on Max waking up, walking around his childhood house, going to school. All of it faded into fuzzy memory. The last part though. That was still in sharp and horrible focus.

It took Max a good minute of heavily breathing and staring at every familiar object in the office, as if cementing the fact he was now awake and what had happened had not in fact happened.

… except it had. Not nearly like what Max remembered it, but the final point was still true. Sam was gone. And apparently, his subconscious was all too happy to remind him of that fact. Anger at those old memories and the dream, distorting them into some kind of joke at his expense flared up in Max. In one mighty swing, he slammed his hand down onto the table… and utterly failed to cause any noticeable damage to the table and promptly broke one of his fingers due to the poor angle of the swing.

"ARGH!" Max scream, flailing backwards and landing back into the office chair. As soon as he sat back he tried to nurse his hand and took note of the damage.

"Argh" Max said again, only through clenched teeth. "Curse you Sam for going for the mahogany…" Max muttered weakly, remembering Sam specifically buying that desk just to stop Max from chewing it like he did the previous.

Max, taking track of the time and seeing he had only been asleep for a couple hours, decided to make a start on the hunt for this Jumba guy. He had no plans on going back to sleep after what he just saw.

 _Probably dear Walter screwing around with me,_ Max thought bitterly. He had no idea what his other personality was capable of, to him directly, but it wouldn't surprise him to find out he was right.

With that thought bouncing around his head Max head out into the night.


	22. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Five hours later Max came back into the apartment and slumped right back into the office chair.

 _Nothing,_ Max thought despondently.

He had found nothing after five hours of trawling through the city. He had spoken to the Commissionaire and some guys he knew on the force and found no reference to anything strange going on… outside the usual random reports that popped up in New York.

He then spent several hours going through his more colourful contacts. Jimmy Two-Teeth, the C. , Harry Moleman, Mack Salmon (who after his last meeting with Sam and Max had fallen so low on funds that he had to sell his metal body suit, leaving him to command his forces in a solitary fish bowl.)

None of them had been any help. Even when he asked nicely… and when that didn't work, he asked like he usually did. No one who could speak afterwards had seen anyone with the description of this Jumba guy. He had either found a room in the city and just huddled up in their 24/7 or he wasn't in the city.

Just as Max looked around the apartment for his lighter, desperate for another cigarette, he spotted the blinking light on his answering machine.

He clicked the play button, hoping it was the Geek returning with news on the new tests she had hopefully done.

It was.

 _Trust the Geek to flip my mood around,_ Max thought as he felt his sour attitude fade a little.

The message was simple. She had found something out and to come back to the company.

Max checked the time again. After spending most of the night wondering around the city and bothering every night owl around, it was now actually morning hours. The time when a normal company would be welcoming it's coffee swigging hoard through its gates.

Deciding to take a break from his new case, figuring he would find something on this guy later, Max left again to head back to the Geek. He desperately needed some good news.

Thirty minutes later Max found himself inside the giant skull shaped office building, headquarters of Egghead Industries. After getting directions from the desk after a call upstairs Max was guided towards the top floor laboratories where Darla was currently working.

"Geek" Max said affectionately as he walked into the white sterile area she was currently working. The place looked like it belonged in a comic book. There were beakers, Bunsen burners, high tech machines with blinking multi coloured lights. Everything one would expect where Science was being done. Science with a capital "S"

"Hello Max" Darla replied in the typical monotone Max was used to. You had to know Darla for some time before you could distinguish between the slight inflections to see what she was really thinking.

In this case Max could tell she was happy to see him, but she was sporting a killer migraine so not to take too much of her time.

"So, you have news for me on those samples?" Max asked, hands clenching and unclenching in excitement. He needed a good solid clue to move forward.

"Yes. We have processed all the samples. And with the time I had sending you the message and now, I've even badgered one of my PA's to put it all in an idiot proof presentation."

"I think you mean idiot resistant. Nothing is idiot proof. I am a testament to that." Max said proudly.

"Yes, very witty, now come on." Darla said as she lead Max to one of the nearby offices which held a projector.

"So" Darla started, laptop open, connected and already running through some pre-prepared PowerPoint. "These are all the samples we have off the imprints you gave"

One the screen appeared three blobs, each labelled sample A, B and C.

"When I said I was going to dumb this down Max, really I mean I am horribly simplifying the DNA results we got into something you might see on CSI Miami. If I hover each sample"

As the mouse on the screen hovered over one sample, a grid of colours appeared. Coloured bars of differing length all appearing in a box next to the sample.

"This is the actual reading frame for each DNA sample. But if I click on this grid"

Again the picture changed from a complex series of coloured boxes, to two separate sections. One red, the other blue.

"Keep track of the colours Max. The first sample is made up of Blue and Red. This is the sample one that large print you sent me, from the warehouse you mentioned. One sample is comprised, in the simplest terms, of two major sequences. Red is the unknown sequence I mentioned to you. Red we can vaguely identify but nothing for certain"

"So alien, right?" Max asked, happy for the effort Geek had taken to simplify the genome of whatever he had handed to two something even he could follow, with his supremely short attention span.

"Well maybe. But the fact it's alien shouldn't matter. When I say unknown, I don't mean it's not in own records and is a newly discovered species. We should still be able to identify the DNA sequence. This is more… well, as if it's encrypted. The very stands appear as static to us when we try to read it. That's something new… and if I hadn't seen it, impossible"

Darla shook her head as she looked up at the red half of the box in irritation. "This is alien. But so is… well, let's move on to the next sample"

With a click, Darla clicked on sample B. Again, after a large selection of coloured boxes popped up, these were replaced with a box with two colours inside, red and green this time.

"The red is the same. The same unknown DNA sequence we cannot read properly. But other parts of the DNA can be read and analysed. This is the green section."

"And the green is?" Max asked

"The green is also alien. But alien DNA we can analysis and guess roughly what it belongs to. We gather it came from something close between a rodent and a marsupial. Something around the size of a dog. From the colour of the hairs left in the print, it's fur would probably be blue."

Max paused before asking "Where did sample B come from"

"The smaller print you gave me" Darla responded simply, bringing up a picture someone had made to guess at who the DNA belonged to. It looked very familiar.

 _The small print. The one I got off Stitch when he had just gnawed on my arm… so the two cases are related_ , Max thought. The surprise that Stitch and this monster, even if they were not the same creature, didn't surprise Max. It wasn't that he had expected the news, but after so many years of cases popping up month after month and suddenly it transpired that they were all related was not new to Max.

Only a couple years ago did a case pop up to hunt down some wacko hypnotising the Soda Poppers. Then later the team was asked to handle some deranged talk show host followed by Sam and Max taking out the Toy Mafia all leading up to a mad alien bacteria monster trying to take over the world. None of it seemed related at the time but Sam and Max were used to coincidence and fate back handing them through their crime hunting careers.

"So Stitch" Max began before being cut off by Darla.

"Stitch?"

"Yeah, sample B. The one who attacked me. That's the one who's print I got. So Stitch is made up of Green and Red. Green is some alien rat koala thing and Red is this big question mark. So with Sample a, what does the blue mean?

Darla smiled. "We are about to cover that" She said, clicking on the final sample.

"This is another sample we got off the cane you handed over. This one was easy to identify. It's technically alien, but not unknown to us" And with that, Darla clicked on sample C and clicked for the simple box. In this box was only blue.

"Ok. So this thing, sample A, is made up from the weirdness of Stitch, with the blue koala taken out and replaced with something. Replaced with this sample C… ok. So who's sample C" Max asked, glad he had decided to hand over not only Stitches print but the cane as well. Stitch's print had only been a small hunch.

Darla clicked on a button in the corner of the page, moving the Red, Green and Blue boxes into a line. With one final click, details began appearing next to each one.

Red – Unknown. Unable to analyse.

Green – Alien mammal, not recognised in database. Resembles Earth Koala.

Blue – Lagomorph.

And there is was. On the last line, with a small picture of a rabbit similar to Max, was the word flashing over and over. Lagomorph.

"What?" Max said, looking back from Darla to the screen in complete bewilderment.

"It's Lagomorph DNA. And it's not yours Max. We have that on file already"

"Lagomorph? Another one of my guys, out there, doing… wait, why do you have my DNA on file?"

Darla just shrugged and answered "You never know"

That being all she would say on the matter, Max looked back at the text on the screen. So another Lagomorph was involved? But who? There weren't many Lagomorphs in the city and most kept to themselves. And this other case involving Jumba meant whoever it was, was involved with alien matters. All the Lagomorph's Max knew who lived in the city was mostly Terran born…

And then it hit him. It wasn't a sudden violent thing. But something far away, just formed at the back of Max's head but getting louder and louder as the thought was dragged right to the front of his consciousness. One name suddenly screaming in Max's head, dragging with it all the anger and bad memories associated with it.

With that Max got out of his seat and walked with stomping feet to the office door.

"Is everything OK Max? Do you know who this belongs to?" Darla asked, suddenly looking worried.

Max turned back to her, teeth bared and just said "It's god damned Cocky!" before slamming the door and leaving.


	23. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Ding Ding

"Jay? Jay, could you get that? I'm not fully dressed"

 _Not being dressed? That's hardly stopped you from answering the door freaking out our land lady before,_ Jay thought, though with no real malice "Alright Noah"

Ding Ding

"Ok, ok. Coming" Jay said, leaving the main room and opening the door to their apartment.

 _What in the…?_

Jay, a Lagomorph, was not exactly new to New York. Both he and his partner Noah had moved to the city just over 4 years ago, and the time had given both Lagomorphs to meetup and talk to others in the local Lagomorph community. Jay liked to think he had met most of the Lagomorphs on the island. However, whether from hushed and subtle suggestions to avoid a certain part of the city, where a couple well known Freelance Police were known to roam or simple bad (or good) luck, Jay had never met or heard of Max before.

Max, who now stood in the door way of an apartment complex, leaning leisurely against the door frame, giving him what he guessed was supposed to be an ingratiating grin.

"Hello there… I'm Max"

Jay stood in the door way, mouth handing open as he looked up and down in bewilderment at the Lagomorph. The very naked Lagomorph. Max stood there despite this, seeming not bothered and unapologetic as he sipped what looked to be a Starbucks.

"Um… hi" Jay said uneasily. He didn't like the look of this pointy teethed visitor. Something about the grin made him think he was about to pounce and take his head off in one clean bite.

Max though confidently walked into the apartment, as if he had been given an open and warm welcoming inside. Jay got annoyed at this and even, as passively as he could, tried to block him. He tried to be polite about it, but Max had a way of walking over manners and good behaviour, assume they were meant for other people.

Instead Max turned Jay around and rested his free arm around his shoulder and started walking them both back into the apartment.

"So" Max said, still appearing to be in a good mood and he looked Jay up and down. "Judging from the black spots on your nose and forehead, you must be Jay. Am I right?"

 _Oh great, the naked Lagomorph even knows my name. That doesn't sound foreboding_ , Jay thought sarcastically as he tried to muster up a response that didn't start with the word "um"

"Y-Yes, that's me. And you are…?"

"Max, just told you. Keep up" Max said quickly, snapping his fingers to finish the point. Max didn't even look at Jay when he said this, instead seeming to be distracted as he looked out for something… or …

"Are you here for someone?" Jay asked, suddenly worried. He had never met this guy, but Noah… he didn't know if he liked the idea of Noah knowing someone like this. Admittedly he had only just met Max, but as first impressions went…

"Someone" Max just said, seeming to mumble the word before actually answering "Oh, right. Yes I am, technically. But we will get to that. I can hear someone… oh, and you must be Noah, right?" Max said, as Noah came from the apartment bedroom. Again, despite how rude he was actually being, Max did try to sound polite.

The look of surprise that turned to horror on Noah's face suggested his attempts had not works.

"Fluffy One's Tail! Max?!" Noah said, actually taking a step.

This did not put Jay at ease.

"Um. You know this…" again Jay couldn't help but look down at the Naked Lagomorph who was, for all intense and purposes, putting him in a headlock. And again, his attention went right back to that rather unique grin of his. Unease was very slowly being led away, to be replaced with good old fashioned fear.

"No. Never met. Just heard of" Noah said, only just noticing Max apparently holding Joy hostage.

"Only good things I hope" Max said happily, as he released his, as he considered it, friendly grip on Jay and let him stumble over to the other Lagomorph, Noah. Max checked over the other rabbit.

 _Description seems right. Both bit taller than me. Jay has the black spots and Noah has mostly grey fur. Seems I've got the right guys,_ Max thought, relieved one lead today had paid off. He had needed to speak to a lot of the Lagomorph community before he was told about these guys.

"Noah. Who is this guy?" Jay said, failing to keep the worry out of his voice.

Before Noah could answer, Max walked over to one of the free chairs, plopped himself down and took a swig of his Starbucks and answered himself.

"I'm Max. From the Freelance Police" Max said, specifically avoiding the topic of his suspension until his psyche eval went through.

If Max thought him saying he was a cop would cause Jay to worry less, he had been wrong. Instead Jay looked desperately to Noah, seeming to scream out "What the hell have you done to bring the police over here?"

Max decided to try and use an old, discarded weapon in social arsenal. Tactic. "I'm not here for either of you two. I just want to ask some questions." Max indicated the other sofa in the room for the two to site down in, which they did, if hesitantly.

"Nice place you have here" Max said, looking over the apartment. And he wasn't lying to try and butter them up. The apartment was nice, if a little small. The main room was homely with a TV, chair and sofa, with various movie prints littering the wall.

Noticing the two didn't look up for small talk, Max just barrelled on. "So, I've been asking around and I heard you two decided to take in a 3rd resident, just over two months ago, right?"

Max knew he had struck home. Neither Lagomorph said anything, but Jay looked over to Noah for support and Noah instantly shut up, face going blank.

"And what if we did?" Noah said evenly.

"Could you tell me who it was?" Max asked, again, trying with a good amount of effort to remove any of the usual threat he would lace his voice with when questioning someone.

Jay looked over to Noah and decided to take his queue "And why should we tell you? We confirmed we could take in a 3rd resident from our landlady without any problems."

Max was happy to know he was on the right track but his fake good mood was wearing thin. He generally didn't like bothering other Lagomorphs who lived in the city and usually just stayed away from them. Even tracking Jay and Noah, Max had actually asked those Lagomorphs he knew nicely, which for him was unheard of. But there were limits.

"Ok, I'll be honest. I am far too tired to even pretend to be civil right now. At least more civil then I actually am. And I am on the very edge of polite dialog to just plain angry shouting and insults. And considering my sleep deprived state, they won't be cleaver ones."

Jay seemed taken aback by this. He didn't think the police were allowed to behave like this. Noah however was surprised but for the opposite reason.

"From what I heard about you, I thought you would jump straight to the mindless violence" Noah said, using the term 'mindless violence' like a very specific descriptor he had been given especially for Max.

Max guessed Noah was probably used to some violent sorts living where they were. The apartment was nice, but the area wasn't.

"Oh yeah" Max said forlornly, leaning back into the chair with a sigh. "I am hankering for a good violent brawl, but honestly, you two seem nice guys. I really, REALLY am not here to cause trouble. All I want to talk about is Cocky" Max said. Dropping the name that had been on all three Lagomorphs lips.

"Cocky" Max repeated "The guy you both took him. From what I was told, you give this new Lagomorph in town your couch for a couple weeks… that right?"

There was silence that met him before Jay asked, in a hesitant voice "Is he in trouble?"

Max looked hard into the expressions of the two Lagomorphs in front of him. He liked to think he was good at picking up lies, from his time as both a Freelance Policeman and the near constant amount of high stakes poker he played on his nights off. So maybe these two really didn't know where Cocky was.

"You haven't seen him?" Max asked, going back to a more reasonable tone, only now a little more genuine. He hadn't known who to expect would have sheltered Cocky whilst he was trapped on Earth, his imagination creating a small pack of militant Lagomorphs like him. These two though seemed… normal.

"No" Jay said, looking genially worried. Noah matched the expression and continued "We haven't seen him for over a month. He only stayed with us whilst things were tough for him."

There was another pause in the conversation before Noah asked "Could you please tell us why you are after him?"

Max looked ready to reply but also paused. Truth be told, he had been considering painting Cocky as an outlaw, responsible for the assault, mutilation and eventual death of Max's partner, Sam, using that to threaten these two as possible accessories to the crime unless they helped him. But though the statement about Sam was technically true, it was still a gross distortion on what actually happened.

Though Max's feelings towards Cocky wavered from honest respect to something close to downright hatred, he didn't want leave these two with the impression that Cocky was a cold blooded killer. And though he couldn't go with the full truth, he could at least go half way there.

"Honestly, there was a crime committed. A theft. And there was DNA evidence found at the site that suggests a Lagomorph was involved" Max said simply

 _DNA evidence found at the site? God I'm sounding like one of the FBI douches off the TV_ , Max thought bitterly

"So you know a Lagomorph was involved with a crime? That doesn't mean Cocky did it. There are hundreds of Lagomorphs living in the city" Noah said, quickly raising to Cocky's defence.

 _Very quick coming to his defence_ , Max noted.

"So you don't think he is capable of committing a crime" Max asked, sardonically.

There was a very distinct gap before Noah answered "He's a good person"

Max paused. "That… wasn't an answer"

Noah hesitated, this time looking to Jay for support. He looked just as tongue tired as Noah did

Max, taking another sip of coffee to drive off the creeping fatigue, looked again around the apartment, not to look at anything specific but instead to keep the awkward silence up to put the pair on edge. They were already floundering on the question. And if Max assumed they knew Cocky at all well, like he did, they knew Cocky, though having a firm set of morals, would almost certainly break the law… well, all Laws save The Law. The one Law that all Lagomorphs had drilled into them from the day they were born, well before they even understood the words being thrown at them.

Never kill another Lagomorph.

Simple as that. You kill a fellow Lagomorph, you are no longer a Lagomorph. That's all there was to it. Admittedly, there were some small clauses that Max remembered, such as defending yourself. But that was beside the point. These two most likely knew Cocky could easily break Terran law. Both willing and capable if the need arose.

Max, whilst this thought bounced around his head spotted something. Something that seemed innocuous if he hadn't focused on it, but…

On a sudden impulse Max slowly got out of the chair and walked to one of the walls of the apartment. A wall littered with various movie prints. One print, of Who framed Roger Rabbit, seemed to be partially covering a few cracks in the plaster. It was a tiny thing but even half covered, Max recognised those splinter patterns. Mostly because he happened to make them all the time at home.

Max carefully shifted the print to uncover what was undeniably a bullet hole. Max stared at the gaping hole with plaster cracks spread around it in all directions. He turned and gave a questioning glance to two silent Lagomorphs.

"Had some trouble in here?" Max asked

"It wasn't Cocky if that's what you're thinking" Jay said quickly.

"I wasn't thinking that. Cocky uses a crossbow" Max said easily. He didn't bother mentioning the giant space cannon he also dragged around when Max met him. Neither would make this sort of mark.

Jay again seemed to be looking for Noah to try and dissuade Max. Noah though seemed to have decided to stop talking.

"I exercise my right to remain silent" He said simply.

Max just turned from the bullet hole and over to Noah with a confused expression. "What?"

"My Miranda Rights" He said simply.

Max looked blank for a second before a snigger escaped his lips. This was shortly followed by a full on giggling fit, causing the now confused Noah to ask "What? What's so funny?"

Max tried to get the laughter under control. "(giggle) Wow. Miranda Rights. That's cute."

Noticing Noah suddenly getting angry Max decided to try once again to use the social skill, tact. A skill he was being reminded that he probably hadn't exercised enough in recent decades.

"Ok. You don't want to say anything to implicate your friend. So let's go through a…" _What was that word again_ "…HYPOTHETICAL. That's it. Hypothetical situation."

Max looked back at the bullet hole. "You guys have trouble in this neighbourhood. Not something you're actually involved with, but something that's caused you some grief. At some point, whilst Cocky is staying with you guys, he finds out about this problem. He doesn't say he's going to do anything, but one day you notice the problem has gone away… probably with a broken arm"

"Leg" Jay said automatically before being silenced by a quick kick from Noah.

Max grinned. This really wasn't some Sherlock Holmes deduction, taking small, seemingly irrelevant facts and weaving a perfect re-enactment of some convoluted murder. The pair obviously liked Cocky. More than liked. You didn't go silent on a cop over some guy you happened to know for only a few weeks. They trusted him implicitly to be a good guy. And despite this, they also knew he was capable of some potentially nasty stuff. You were only a few things Cocky could have done to gain that sort of camaraderie.

Max knew he was right. Neither of them seemed to want to hide it. Jay had even accidently admitted to it.

It was Noah though who finally explained. "There's a bar opposite our building. Its owned and filled with a gang that causes trouble for us here. Asking for protection money on occasion, when they've sobered up and need some quick cash. When we don't comply…"

Noah suddenly walked over to Jay, who had gone pale at the mentioning of the gang. Without a word Noah went to his side and lifted his shirt partially to reveal a noticeable scar. A scare caused by a bullet hole to his left abdomen. Jay looked away, but Max noticed him subtly take Noah's over hand and squeeze it for support. Not a memory either of them cherish it seemed.

"Jay got this one night when one of the guys came here drunk. Barely knew what he was doing. When he waved his gun around and one wild shot took Jay, the guy ran out…"

Jay seeming to recover somewhat said, with forced cheer "I was lucky really. Nothing important hit"

"You were NOT lucky! Lucky shouldn't involve you being shot by some drunk scum bag!" Noah said, real angry bubbling up as he looked to Max, almost seeming to blame him.

"The cops didn't help. No one did. But Cocky…. He was just some guy we picked up off the street. Just some starving Lagomorph who we thought we could help a little. Did you know he was homeless before we met him? Dancing in the street for money and living in a car board box? And when we met him, he already had a crossbow. He could have been out there robbing people and getting all the easy cash he needed, but he didn't. He's not like that."

Seeming to calm down a little, Noah continued "So one day he asked after this gang. We told him to avoid the guys in the bar, for his own good, mentioning this guy… then that night we see the sofa empty and the following day the guy who shot Jay walking down the street with a broken nose and leg. The rest of the guys also stopped bothering us."

Max took in the story, though ignoring the accusation Noah said when he spat out the word cops. He had never been told about this so how was he supposed to do anything about it? But Max did take a good look at Jay and his scar.

 _Yep, that would certain get Cocky out and active._ Max thought as he finished his Starbucks and threw the cardboard cup in the bin.

"One final question. Have you seen Cocky in the last three weeks?" Max asked simply.

Noah, still looking angry just shook his head "No. Haven't seen him since he left a month ago… and since then, the guys over there have just got their backbones back and been bothering us just as bad as they did before. Not that you care…"

That was enough for Max. He didn't have time for the pity party Noah was throwing at him. With that he walked out the apartment.

Just as he got to the door he was stopped by Jay. "You remind me of him"

Max returned a confused looked. Jay just continued "Cocky that is. You remind me of him. He was here for a couple days and he asked us about the gang. He said he spotted the bullet hole, just like you did"

Max thought about this for a second. He didn't really know how to take this and decided to just say "We aren't similar" and left.

Five minutes later

Inside the Gut Shot, the bar owned and populated by the members of the Double Shot gang, a small figure entered through the main door. One of the members, a giant of a man with more tattoos on display then actual clothing walked away from the bar to face the stranger.

"We're closed" He said simply.

Max, looking around the establishment at the various members littering it's tables looked up at the man. He gave a warm grin. "By any chance, any of you guys 'Hoodlums'"

"…what?" The man asked, suddenly confused.

"Hoodlums. Young rapscallions who don't know any better?"

"… No pal. This ain't a kids bar. Now get out… and leave your money behind, for the bother you're causing me"

Max's grin only widened. "And if I don't?"

The man, looking more annoyed then anything, took out a pistol. He took one look at it though and shook his head "Too loud" He muttered before putting it back and taking out a large and ugly looking knife.

Max looked at the weapon and at the other members. All of them seemed to be grinning at what they thought was about to happen.

None of them young. All of them mature, good old fashioned ***holes. Max let out a sigh of relief. He had been meaning to scratch this particular itch for a while now.

"I'm sorry I did that" Noah said turning to Jay who still looked shaken at the experience. When Jay looked up in confusion, Noah continued "You know. Lifting your shirt off and showing your scar just to make a point… I should have asked but…"

Noah shook his head an fumed. "That guy comes here. Barges in like he owns the place."

"Who is this Max? I've never heard of him" Jay asked.

Noah shrugged. "Just some psycho everyone says to avoid. Some of the guys mention-" Noah answered before being cut off by screaming. Screaming coming from outside.

Noah and Jay rushed to their window and looked down just in time to see a rush of guys running out of the Gut Shot and into the street below them.

"What the…" Noah said, wondering what was going on.

None of the members looked in good shape. All had blood on them from some wound or another. And they kept streaming out, running from something.

As the flow eased and the final guy to emerge stumbled out, unable to support his own weight, he seemed to be physical pushed out by the last person to leave the bar, Max.

Max who also happened to be covered in a rather large amount of blood, though none of it seemed his. Despite the chaos around him, Noah and Jay could clearly see Max looking, somehow, relaxed. As if he had just gotten up after a long, deep sleep.

Looking from Max to the gang members, all littering the street now nursing their various wounds, Noah and Jay looked at each other.

"Told you he reminded me of him" Jay said, looking a little shaken, but also excited.

Noah, not one to give up on a point so easily looked back down to Max "Not that I don't enjoy seeing those guys in pain, but it's pointless. He's already walking away and we both know they will just go back to their old habits. Pop back into the bar, get themselves riled up and we will face the consequences. This doesn't change a th-"

BOOOOM!

Noah was cut off as every window and door the bar had shattered and peppered the street in wooden and glass fragments. These were followed by one solid fireball erupting from every point in the building. Even the roof seemed to jump a few feet into the air as fire roared out from under it.

Jay and Noah jumped back into their apartment in shock. They looked at each other, wide eyed and panting and ran back to the window. They were just in time to see the fire finish ripping through the building and subside. As soon as most of the flames died away however, whatever seemed to have been holding the property up apparently gave way as, with distinct sound of wood snapping, the bar seemed to fold in on itself. The roof fell indoors as the walls crumbled and sagged.

The building was not reduced to rubble after all the excitement had passed, but that was a minor comparison to what was currently standing. The place had been decimated.

Noah, mouth still hanging open suddenly looked out for Max. He had just enough time to see the Lagomorph walking happily down the street, paying no mind to them, the gang members or the building. To Noah's surprise… he could even see that Max was whistling.


	24. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Unlike most sessions Max had been on, this time he had not just gone in to Philip's office, walking in as if he owned the place. Instead Max was sat outside in the chair he used when he first visited, facing the same irritating clock.

Despite his first reaction though, Max couldn't bring up the effort to be annoyed by the incessant ticking. At least not enough to take out his gun and do something about it. Instead he waited desperately for the door to open and to get this appointment out the way.

 _I feel like I'm waiting to have my tooth pulled._

Just as the minute hand stuck the hour, the door to the office opened. Doctor Philips looked out and spotted Max, his usual cheery grin welcoming Max as he opened the door further and asked Max to come in.

Max took the steps slow, as if hoping some possible phone call or freak accident would put off the meeting till later. He really didn't want to talk about the event. He really didn't. Not now that Cocky had been brought so recently back to the front of his thoughts.

Just as he stepped forward, Philips directed Max not to the stools in his kitchen where they usually had their session, but the main couch.

"Lay back Max and we will start" Philips said as he took a seat to Max's side.

Max sighed as he jumped into the comfy couch and leaned back. He felt resigned now.

"Ok…. Where do I begin"

Philips just smiled. "Wherever you want Max. Where you think this all started"

"Ok… Well, I guess it all started when Sam was struck by lightning…"

And then is all came out. Max, who had been dreading this moment since Philip said he would have to speak about it, suddenly felt content. Not happy. Just content to suddenly let all the events from the previous three weeks come flowing out. Every horrible detail. All the fears and private moments had he experienced. They all just came out like a dam had just burst.

He spoke about Sam gaining some strange lightning powers and for some time, the crime fighting due became the crime fighting star and his funny bunny side kick. Max spoke about the argument the two had had where Max had told him to either get rid of the powers or he would leave. Max remembered that almost as a joke. Oh it had seemed serious at the time… but considering what had followed, it seemed hardly worth mentioning.

And what happened next had been where everything had gone truly wrong. Max meeting Cocky. Max getting knocked out by Cocky. Sam… Sam getting his brain removed.

Max didn't pause. The whole story, with every conversation that seemed important and every frustrated step Max had taken to get Sam back together and then, when he transformed, back to normal.

Max at the end of it all, just sitting there, in the rain. Just sitting there with that cannon, still steaming after being fired... Just sitting there, having just killed Sam, a small petty part of him happy it was raining, so no one could see him cry his eyes out.

"… that was quite a story, Max" Philip said simply, as the last word from Max had left a large cold silence fill the room.

"…not a story" Max said, wanting to sound angry but not managing it. He didn't have the energy to feel angry now.

"Of course. I didn't mean it like that" Philip said in calm, not uncaring voice.

Max just sighed, hardly seeming to notice the reply. "So that's it then? I'm cured, or whatever" he said in a hollow voice.

"No Max. No. Because though I imagine that was hardly easy for you to tell me all of that… I have the feeling there is more to the story then what you've just told me"

Max felt some pang of irritation flare up at that. "I told you everything"

Despite the aggressive tone in Max's voice, Philip just went on, as always not easily cowed by Max's unspoken threats. "I don't think you lied about anything or hid any specific event. But throughout the story you focused entirely on yourself, on the endeavours you went through and on Sam"

Max looked blankly at Doctor Philips. "Um… yeah. Kind of the main things on my mind back then"

"You say that but you seemed, whether you did so intentionally, to gloss over something… or should I say someone"

Max still held the blank expression but inwardly tried to go through his story. He didn't think he had left anything out.

"I am speaking about this Cocky character you met" Philip said simply.

Max was suddenly on edge. "I did mention him. And why does he matter? Sam's the important one in the story" He said defensively

"I am not denying your friends role in the story. And you are right. In a large manner, all the events did focus on Sam in one way. But from your perspective Max, the Lagomorph Cocky seems as key a role in events as either of you two"

Max didn't say anything, opting instead to lean back in his chair. He didn't want to talk about Cocky.

Philip just continued. "You mentioning him only in simple short sentences whenever you seemed to want to bring him up. You mentioned him and you meeting, him attacking you to then use as bait to assault Sam. Then you track him down to… well… though you didn't say it, I can only guess at a rather severe confrontation. And then suddenly Cocky turns into an ally and helps you try to save Sam… you mentioned this but in the barest of details. As if the matter was hardly of any importance"

Max ground his teeth together whilst Philip spoke. As soon as Philip had finished Max jumped right back with "It wasn't important. Cocky was just… there"

"If he was not important, then why do you flinch every time I say his name" Philip said, his voice no longer a calm gentle tone but something near to accusatory.

Max felt like he was being interrogated. "I don't… I…"

"Cocky" Philip said, raising a fist and lifting one finger "The person you meet after you and Sam decided to try and get his powers removed. The person who tricked you. Attacked you. Trussed you up and forced you to listen as your friend was attacked and medically mutilated. The person whom you tracked down with the intention to kill"

Philip made each point by lifting another finger on his raise hand. He then raised another fist and started doing the same "The person who, as it turns out, was doing all this to save the Earth from the powers Sam had received. The person who decided to help you save Sam despite your earlier clash. The person whom you tried to get rid of on multiple occasions and yet still came back."

Philip held the two hands with each finger raised, looked from the digits back to Max. "You skimmed over each point as if it was an irrelevant point. Why is that? What do you feel about Cocky"

Max thought about giving Philips the silent treatment until he dropped this subject, but considered that even he was not quite that childish. But despite this he really didn't want to talk about Cocky. To him… well it was complicated. Cocky had indeed been at the centre of everything during the incident with Sam.

 _And how I feel about Cocky? That was just a stupid question. I hate it when someone says something so general, asking how you are supposed to feel about someone. People like Doctor Philips always treats the question like you consider every person like an onion._

 _I feel this about them, but really I feel this about the, but actually DEEP DOWN, I feel this about them._

 _Cocky? Really. I think I respect him. I respect his code that he follows and what he did for me and Sam at the end…. And, I think, I hate him. I hate him for what he did to me, to Sam and doing it all without it scratching that damned code of his, like his hands were clean when he had his doctor friend cut open Sam._

 ** _But that's not really why you hate him, is it_** _._ This had not been the usual inner monologue Max had with himself. This was another voice, something deeper reacting to the obvious lie he was telling himself. It almost sounded like Walter's voice.

All of this had just gone through Max's head, but all the while Max had remained silent in front of Doctor Philip.

"Well Max?" He asked patiently.

"Well what?" Max asked testily.

"Well. Let's say Cocky was here in the city and you bumped into him. What do you think you would say?" Philip asked

 _I would ask why you felt the need to splice your DNA on some mutant monster and kidnap a harmless scientist on the other side of the planet_ , Max thought bitterly

"I would… I would probably be civil." Max answered, trying to be honest

"Civil?" Philip asked back.

"… OK. Despite what Cocky did to help Sam, I don't like him. I really don't like what he did to me and then Sam when we first met. Everything after that was just stuff that tipped the balance back, but now, after everything is over and I've had time to think, I don't think I would just out hit Cocky but I won't be giving him a friendly 'Welcome Back to Earth' hug either."

"And what don't you like him?" Philip asked, still drilling Max one question after another, not letting Max put an end to the topic

Max actually looked angry when he turned to Philip. "Because he sucker punched me with a taser when we first met and blindsided Sam, before having that Doctor friend of his cut open his skull"

"But didn't you say that Cocky did this because of the Dark Seed growing in-"

"I KNOW WHAT I SAID!" Max screamed. He could see even Philip had been shocked at the sudden outburst. Max hadn't even feel it come up before the bellow was out of his lips. He tried to calm himself and continued. "I don't care. He still did it. And it wasn't just that. We didn't gel well together. Even when we had to work together, our personalities kept rubbing each other the wrong way."

"And that's it? A clash of personalities?" Philip asked, still going on despite Max's outburst.

"Yes… no…. it's complicated" Max said, sounding more and more unsure.

"… do you blame Cocky, ultimately, for the death of Sam?" Philip said suddenly.

The question fell on Max like a brick wall. He turned to the doctor, floundering as he tried to form something close to the answer.

"Well… no. Not really. Not 100%" Max said in a quiet voice.

"Then what percentage?" Philip asked again, seeming to be on the edge of his seat.

"I… I don't know. Maybe if he had done something different on that day… maybe if I" Max then shut his mouth. He didn't want to go into the topic of blame. He had already had that question go around his head in the early days after Sam' death.

And though he wished he could just throw all the blame and pile up at Cocky's feet, he couldn't. Only one name bounced around Max's head when he thought on who to blame. But it wasn't Cocky's.

"I think you hate Cocky, Max" Philip began, seeming to read Max's thoughts. "But not for those reasons…"

Philip left the statement stand, letting the room fill with silence. A silence that begged to be filled. A silence that clawed at Max, wordlessly saying he was a coward.

He looked at Philip who just lay back in his chair, ready to wait for however long he needed. He felt like puking. He didn't want to talk about this. He knew he had to though. It was almost as if both he and Philip knew what Max thought and him remaining silent was just a childish attempt to hide.

"…. I hate Cocky" Max said simply, letting that statement stand before, after a long breath he continued. "I hate Cocky, because I'm not allowed to hate him"

Philip didn't ask the obvious question so Max just continued.

"When I first woke up and found Sam the way he was… I was angry. More angry then I've ever been. I couldn't think. Not really. Everything was just on auto pilot for me, like a switch in my head had been flipped. All that mattered was Cocky had attacked me and Sam in the most cowardly way I could imagine and left my friend practically dead and me alive. Cocky was the bad guy. That was it…"

Max leaned back in his couch. He even took out a cigarette, despite for the need to fill his lungs with nicotine but a strong look from Philip told Max he was not welcome to smoke in his office. He wordlessly pocketed the cigarette and continued, feeling as if each word was being forced out of him.

"And then… after his friends picked him up and he said why he attacked Sam… he wasn't the bad guy. Suddenly he's the hero, killing one fat dog to save the planet. And I'm just some psychopath in his way. Suddenly I'm not allowed to hate him. I'm not allowed to take everything he did to me and Sam personally. I'm not allowed to blame him for Sam's death"

The last part came out in a choked voice. Max stopped talking. He didn't think he could continue.

And he waited. He waited for that one question that he would, like the previous question, have to answer. That one question that had kept him up at night and nearly got him to put Sam's own gun to his temple and play Russian roulette.

 _Who is to blame then_

But the question never came. Max turned with a dead look in his eye to Philip who looked back with a concerned expression. He knew what Max was thinking. And he wasn't going to ask him. Instead he just said.

"Do you know what empathy is Max?"

"What?" Max asked, too drained to be surprised at the sudden random question.

"Empathy. It is what we use to imagine yourself in another person's situation. We look at a person and imagine yourself in their shoes. Could you do something for me Max?"

"What is it" Max asked in a tired voice, leaning up.

"Could you put yourself in Cocky's situation for me? Not during the incident with Sam. But before. Imagine you are this person called Cocky. You are trapped on an alien and under developed planet, by his standards."

Max just looked confused.

"Empathy is what separates us for emotionless killers Max. And despite how you act, I don't believe you sociopath. So please. Tell me what you would do"

Max's brow furrowed as he gave this weird request an honest attempt.

He knew Cocky had landed here on Earth. He had landed here, and based on what Noah had told him earlier, had ended up a beggar in the streets for a while before getting that spare couch.

So he tried, mostly because he was too tired to argue. He imagined himself in Cocky's position. He's trapped on Earth, no way of returned to his friends. Friends Cocky said, who had been in danger when he left. He tried to imagine is Sam had been in some kind of danger and Max had been trapped on some backward planet and the lengths he would have gone through to get him back.

The horrible thing was, Max probably would have done what Cocky did to Sam, without the excuse of the Dark Seed possibly taking out the planet.

As max thought about Cocky's actions he only got more depressed. It had been exactly as he had said earlier. Cocky had behaved in a specific way one would do if they had his talents, code of ethics and the ability to… do what needed to be done, you could say.

Nothing about what Cocky did suggested he really had a choice in the matter…

And then… it hit him. A single small thought at the back of Max's head. A simple thought that slowly expanded. A thought that turned into a scenario. Then a series of scenarios. All of those possible events played out in Max's head, each being crossed out for one reason or another until one possibility was left. It wasn't absolute… but considering the times and what he knew.

… Cocky hadn't taken Jumba… but Max now had a suspicion on who had. And it was something he could confirm if he left right then and there.

And so he did. Thanking the suddenly confused Doctor Philips, his own mood suddenly doing a 180, Max jumped from the couch and ran from the room.


	25. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

In one of the madder dashes Max had made from one side of the city to the other (which considering his history behind the wheel should say something), Max made it to the apartment complex where he, Flint Paper and now, on the 3rd floor, Agent Bubbles and the alien Pleakley were housed.

Max took the stairs two at a time running full pelt until he was at the front door to the apartment he had loaned to the pair. Not even bothering to knock Max simply barged his way into the room, ignored the surprised look on agent Bubbles who had been on the phone and went straight to Pleakley

"You. Call the Bossy Lady" Max said simply, breathing hard and staring at the alien with wide blood shot eyes.

"Ummm" Pleakley said, looking close to fright as he looked deep into Max's desperate mad eyes. He looked to Bubbles for support. Finding only the same confusion and reticence Pleakley looked back to Max.

He slowly took out the communicator he used to contact The Councilwoman but didn't move to press the big red button on it's top.

"Now Max… I cannot just call the Councilwoman. She is the galactic leader of the Federation. I need to wait for specific time slots before I can send a mess-"

Max already guessing the answer wasn't what he wanted to hear ignored Pleakley, grabbed the orb from his hand and pressed the button. He wanted to say what he had on his mind now before it started slipping away into the swirling chaos of his mind.

"No…" Pleakley moaned as he saw the orb glow and, like before in Max's office, begin to rotate and shift into the centre of the room. "I am most certainly going to die"

"Shame, rather liked you" Max said, though not bothering to look at the despondent Pleakley. He did try to be nice though and lie to him.

Pleakley tried to say something but Max couldn't hear him as the disco show from before started all over again as the small room was filled with booming noise and lights shooting out of the spinning orb, until all settled.

In the middle of the room stood a very annoyed Councilwoman.

"May I ask what is of such urgency to bother me from-"

Again Max, who realised he was probably pushing his luck to the very limit by interrupting the Councilwoman as all people said quickly. "Jumba"

"… what about him" The Councilwoman said, anger still present in an imperial glare aimed right at Max.

"When he was in prison, inside the same block he was kept in… was there a Lagomorph there?"

"… pardon?" Genuine confusion dislodging the anger for a second.

"A Lagomorph" Max said excitedly. "One who was released recently, like a few months ago… one with a bad leg… and who happens to be a psychic"

There was a pause as the Councilwoman looked from Max to Pleakley and over to agent Bubbles.

The confusion hadn't abated. "Lagomorph… with a damaged leg… who also happens to be an empath. May I ask why you….(sigh), one moment"

Obviously deciding to just go ahead and make the call now and afterwards question Max, the Councilwoman reached out her left hand and rested it on something invisible. When Max saw her fingers delicately press down on something hanging in mid-air, he guessed she was using some console right next to her. A console not being broadcast through the hologram.

After a few seconds the Councilwoman looked up at Max and declared "The warden of the prison I had Jumba held at when we prosecuted him has been called. He will be made a part of this conference."

Max grin widened. He wasn't certain on this. If he was honest with himself it was really a massive stab in the dark, but it was a theory that ticked all the boxes he had.

"I can tell you though Max, if you are after a Lagomorph with those exact attributes, you will not find him in a cell in the maximum security asteroid I held Jumba in"

Max felt his high begin to fall away. "Why's that?" He asked, suddenly feeling unsure.

"Because Max, empaths as we call them are extremely rare and those who are captured for braking any law are all stored in a very specific prison planet. One designed to hold and deal with such rare individuals. This Lagomorph you mentioned is unlikely to have been near Jumba during his short incarceration"

Suddenly with a much darker mood the Councilwoman continued "And when Warden Seali has joined us and most likely confirmed this, you will tell me exactly why you felt the need to interrupt me during a very important meeting I was attending… and the reason had better be justified"

Max felt his confidence waning. He knew why he had come in here and made the express call to the Councilwoman. Why he had come up with the theory.

He had been fixated on Cocky being the one involved in the entire affair with the theft at the warehouse and the capture of Jumba. It was the sort of thing Max knew Cocky was capable of. But just when Philip told him to try and think on what sort of person Cocky was, to justify his motives during the incident involving Sam and him… Cocky just didn't fit.

Whether he would kidnap and rob a place was not a huge problem to fit Cocky into. There could be any number of reasons to involve him. But why would Cocky have his DNA spliced with Stitch to make a Lagomorph monster, which Max now guessed is what made that hole in the warehouse.

Cocky, when he really thought about it, didn't fit. He had no reason to be here again and start causing the sort of trouble that had sprung up. So Max went through all the facts on both cases he knew. He knew there was an experiment out there. One made from spicing Lagomorph DNA with Stitch. And who could have done this? Jumba. That wasn't a huge stretch.

And he knew there was a Lagomorph out there. One most likely in need of a stick to help him walk… and unless someone else was involved, one who had psychic powers. Powers that let him create that Mental Web thing at the warehouse… and powers that could probably get Jumba, who had no wish to get back into the evil scientist role, become a happy willing servant. Again, these weren't, in Max's view, major jumps in imagination. All of these facts just fit together if he moved them into the right positions.

But there was still a problem. A problem Max had been thinking about in the back of his mind when he first heard the story. It wasn't a question on who would kidnap Jumba for his little world destroying secrets. Who wouldn't want to get a hold of someone who could make an army of furry super strong mutants. Every evil villains dream. And Max imagined there were probably plenty of bad guys with that sort of dream out there in space.

The problem was, why now? Pleakley had said it. They had been on Earth for over two years. Two years was a long time for someone to wait on coming to Earth to kidnap someone. And nothing had changed in that time. Not really. And from what Pleakley said, the people who knew Jumba, him and Stitch were here on Earth was a very small list

So why now? Though Max knew nothing what so ever about the goings in the space traveling community, he did know criminals. So if someone knew about Jumba, Pleakley and Stitch getting trapped on Earth why would they not act on the information for over two years.

Because they couldn't. Jumba had been in prison, if only for a couple days, what was to stop someone finding out, getting out some time later and chasing Jumba down. Pleakley even said that he told Jumba, in his cell, that they were going to earth right after leaving for the planet.

It had seemed so obvious… and now it seemed so flimsy.

Max almost flinched as, in a flash of light, another alien appeared in the room beside the Councilwoman. He stood taller. Taller than anyone else in the room by a good few feet. He had 8 black beady eyes and purple skin. Other than that he looked just like a steroid pumping human. He wore what was obviously a wardens uniform, complete with some random medals Max didn't recognise or really care about.

"Madam President" The thing said in a deep rumbling bellow. "What need do you have of me?"

The Councilwoman gave one quick glance at Max and turned back to the giant "Warden Seali. I need you to verify something for me. On the day Doctor Jumba was incarcerated in the asteroid prison you manage, was there a Lagomorph in his cell block?"

Again the Councilwoman made another dubious glance at Max and continued "A Lagomorph with some injury to his leg. And, by some chance, was an empath?"

The Councilwoman kept her eyes on Max, still showing the same doubtful look at him. It was because of this that she did not see the look of shock appear on the warden's face, followed by what was obviously fear. It didn't matter that he was an alien. It seemed those expressions were universal, despite the species.

Max had spotted this and felt his confidence rise. "That's the look of someone with bad news"

"Um… (cough). A Lagomorph you say, Councilwoman?" Warden Seali said, who's nervousness was practically written all over his face.

Even the Councilwoman, now looking, spotted the obvious guilt and said, in a measured tone "Yes Warden. A Lagomorph. Does one come to mind? One whom was released recently?"

The warden shrank beneath that look. Despite being half as tall and could probably be snapped like a twig by the muscle bound giant, Max saw to his chagrin that the warden was practically whimpering.

"Well, Madam President… there was a Lagomorph housed in the same block as Doctor Jumba. In the cell beneath him infact…"

There was silence as the warden obviously hoped to get some reaction from the Councilwoman, whilst she just remained silent.

Continuing with hesitant breaths the warden continued. "And he did have a weak left knee, your majesty. A badly healed wound that he seemed disinclined to have fixed by surgery, which we were prepared to offer. He needed a cane to walk if I remember…"

Max felt his grin widen. Score, score and….

"Why do you know so much about this individual, Warden Seali. You seem to know all this from memory, as you have not done any searches I can see… why do you know this inmate so well? And as I asked before, is this person an empath and has he already been released?"

"… Well Madam President, he, Kinswell I believe was his name, he… he is not a registered empath and he has not been released"

Max stared hard at the Warden, enjoying this spontaneous interrogation. There had been some odd look he saw in Seali when he used the word 'released'.

"He's not been released… so we can speak to him?" Max asked, already guessing that wasn't an option.

"Um" The Warden said, giving Max a quick look but his gaze instantly shot back to the Councilwoman. "… no. No he cannot be reached. As he has not been released, but escaped from our facility over a month ago"

Silence well over the room like a hammer. The sort of silence that smothered and choked. The Councilwoman was looking… calm. Which was probably no better than angry.

"And how did a crippled Lagomorph escape a maximum security facility, Warden Seali?" The Councilwoman finally asked, voice like ice.

"… he… took over the mind of a guard. We guess now that… he was in fact a trained psychic."

The Councilwoman did not let this breath of silence last long this time. In a below that made Warden Seali flinch like a scolded toddler she screamed "And why is it only NOW that I hear of this?!"

"I-I-I'm sorry Madam President. We have sent out parties to find him. But we had no data that he was an empath. One capable of full mental domination. He was only sentenced because of several cases of blackmail" The warden whined.

"Urgh, be gone… we know where this individual is now, no thanks to your silence on this matter, Warden" The Councilwoman said before turning back to Max.

"It appears I have need to thank you, Detective Max."

Max, though usually drinking in complements like cheap Bosco Whiskey, didn't prepare some sarcastic comment to throw back at the galactic president. Instead his gaze was still on the warden. There was something about his expression and way he looked like he wanted to leave, then and there, but seemed unable to do so. There was more….

"Looks like someone still has something to admit to" Max said in a sing song voice. His cheeks were actually beginning to hurt from smiling so much.

The Councilwoman looked from Max back to the warden and glared.

"What is it, Seali"

"Um… there is one last thing" The warden said in a small tiny voice, that did not belong in a person his size. "Kinswell left the day we had a specific ship docked at the station. We assume he waited until this day to leave when this ship was here. We don't know how he knew about it. It was the most guarded secret that only-"

"And the ship was?" The Councilwoman said sharply, interrupting the gibbering warden.

"…was the Invincible, Madam President"

The Council Women didn't say anything. Her face went blank as she calmly lifted her right hand and pushed a button in the unseen console near her. The image of Warden Seali flickered out of existence as she disconnect the call with him.

She then said in a slow tired voice "….Meega, nala kwishta"


	26. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

An hour had passed since the conversation with Warden Seali (Max now guessed it was former warden). Since then it had been all activity. The Councilwoman had asked Max, frankly, what he needed to help track down this Kinswell. And Max had answered.

He knew that the monster Doctor Jumba had made from the DNA of this Kinswell and something else. The Geek's unknown genetic code. But part of that unknown code was apparently some of the stuff stolen from the factory. It wasn't a stretch to see why. If this Lagomorph had kidnapped and brainwashed Doctor Jumba to create more of these experiments, then he would need the raw ingredients to get them. And if the Earth just happened to supply the ingredients, why bother going to some populated space station or advanced world where either he or Jumba would be recognised? Why not just do their shopping here.

So Max needed to know what else they had stolen and what they still needed. He needed to know the formula to make a Jumba experiment.

The Councilwomen had looked hesitant. "That formula, Max, is one of the most closely guarded secrets in the galaxy. It is the whole reason why we need to find Jumba and now this Kinswell person, as soon as physically possible…"

Then something flashed over the Councilwomen's expression. Something Max could have sworn looked like fear.

She continued "But with the involvement of the Invincible… I see no other choice. I will call Professor Langstrum, the only other person in the galaxy to know the details of the formula. You will need someone who will be able to work with the Professor to work out what might still be needed… unless they have already got all they need and have left your world"

The comment seemed to hold more foreboding then Max could properly appreciate. He wanted to ask the Councilwoman why she seemed so worried about this ship, but instead decided to put that thought aside. He then made a call.

And so The Geek had appeared, not seeming to be bothered about the collection of hologram and real aliens in the room and just got to speaking to Professor Langstrum, as if they were old colleagues, comparing notes. She didn't seemed fazed in the least to be talking to a floating transparent blue bulb, who's voice seemed to trigger a collection flashes of red and purple to appear inside of him.

So the two chatted. Darla and he trying to take each part of Jumba's formula and translate the alien details into elements and compounds that Darla could understand. Max, who had decided to sit back and enjoy a coffee, watched the two.

Darla actually seemed engaged, which was rare for her. She was learning things no one else on Earth or even the universe knew. Even the Geek couldn't resist taking some glee in knowing something so dangerous and exclusive.

"So THAT'S why we didn't get any readings on the DNA!" Darla shouted, looking relived to finally know what had been bothering her for the last two days.

"Oh yes" Professor Langstrum said, seeming to chuckle, or whatever the equivalent of a chuckle was to the living light bulb. It seemed, from what Max could see, a deep pulsing purple light, if he was guessing right. "That was a little secret that dear Jumba invented just for his biological experiments. It drove all of us just as mad. No one knew how he did it, but all the samples he left in his lab after his arrest just came back with flark"

"Flark?" Darla asked conversational

"…. Hmm, I think the closest word you have for flark is gibberish." The Professor said.

"Flark… I like it" Darla replied, giving a cheeky smile.

Max grinned, enjoying the exchange, before he just noticed the hologram of the Councilwomen walk up next to him. She, after calling the professor, had disappeared, saying she needed to update her troops on the situation. She had obviously just come back. Thankfully not arriving with the light show from before.

To Max's surprise, she too also seemed to have a cup of something in her hands. Something steaming that she held like a life line.

Noting his gaze the Councilwoman answered the unasked question "We call it Co-fee. A beverage made from a bean we cultivate. It produces a drug we call caffeine. It proves quite-" She stopped as Max, with his usual grin held up his cup.

Looking down and then at a small list of read outs that popped up in front of the Councilwomen she leaned back with a matching grin.

"Well. It appears your planet isn't quite as under-developed as I was told"

Max took the comment as a friendly one. Infact, to his surprise, the Councilwoman sat down. Not on the couch he was on or the adjacent chair, but in mid-air, obviously sitting in some chair that was also not displayed in the hologram. It did give off a cool look.

"So, Max. How did you come up with your deduction? I still do not know the details of your investigation"

Max grinned with self-satisfaction. He really couldn't resist. Not when asked for the reason on his 'deduction'

"It was… elementary"

There was a pause as the Councilwoman looked down at Max. Waiting patiently, but obviously not getting the reference.

"I really shouldn't make jokes referencing Earth made characters." Max said evenly. And with that, he explained. He went into short details on his first case with the warehouse and then what he found out afterwards. He did leave out all the… more embarrassing and personal points involved with the case, but for the most part, mentioned everything else.

The Councilwoman, as Max finished, nodded. "I believe I can see how you got to your reasoning on Jumba's kidnapper. Though I must say it still seemed to be a bit of a leap"

Max had to nod. He had been so gun-ho at the time. He had been so angry at the idea of Cocky being back in town that suddenly taking him out of the equation… well it didn't clear things up but it did make the pieces fit together better.

"Yes. It was. But 50% of police work is lucky guessing" Max said. That had been one of Sam's. Luck had played a big part in most of Sam and Max's cases. Finding that random object that just so irrelevant but happened to be the exact item they needed to get past some locked door or guard, even if the reason was a stupid one. That had happened far too often.

"Well I am glad you made the leap and brought it before me so quickly. The faster we act now…"

Max, though enjoying this casual talk with, what was probably, the most powerful person in the galaxy, decided to bring up the question he had been holding back.

"What is the problem with this ship being involved?" Max envisioned a giant fortress of a ship. One armed with every imagined science fiction weapon put to film.

The truth though turned out to be the opposite

"It was an un-armed peace keeping ship commissioned by the Federation's top research team." The Councilwoman said simply, sitting straight and staring down at Max, with an intensity he found disconcerting. "A ship with shielding capable of taking any punishment imaginable. It was made to enter war zones and safety evacuate civilians. The goal was a good one"

"So it's a ship no one can hurt?" Max asked, not seeing why this was so scary.

"Yes. The shield designed was state of the art. The engine powering it was so large the ship was made to the size of… well… this island"

Max's mouth hung open. "The size of New York?"

The Councilwoman nodded before taking a sip of her Co-fee. "Yes. And it worked. Though it has no weapons of any kind, it does have some of the most advanced stealth systems imaginable for a ship its size… but there was a complication"

Max asked the question he was effectively told to ask. "Which was?"

"One of our scientists ran some simulations. The ship was designed to be a moving fortress only. Impervious to damage whilst the shield was active but unable to fight in any way. However, one of the simulations that a particularly forward thinking scientist created" The Councilwoman said, nodding over to Professor Langstrum to indicate who she was talking about.

"… well the professor came to the realisation that a ship with such a large mass which could take no damage would automatically be able to go on the offensive, even without any weapons. It only had to ram its targets. Some of the others on the team said such concerns were pointless as such brute force combat was not really possible in open space…."

"…but?" Max asked, again filling his role of being the attentive audience.

"But the professor decided to simulate what would happen to a planet based military structure if this ship were to collide with it. If at minimum speed, it would destroy any structure you could imagine, no matter the design or materials. The shear mass would crush it…. At maximum speed. Near full accreditation into the atmosphere of an inhabited planet…. The resultant collision would almost certainly kill every living person."

The Councilwoman actually leaned back in her invisible chair, looking tired and dishevelled. "We aimed to create the ultimate peace keeping vehicle. We accidentally created the perfect planet killer"

Max suddenly realised, unconcously looking up and out the window as if expecting the sky to be full of descending space ship.

"I think that's as good a definition of the word 'Ironic' as I've heard before"

The Councilwoman nodded. "Planet destroying engines are not, in all honesty, that hard to create. Nearly every race able to travel the great distances of the galaxy have a number of weapons capable of destroying a planet. It's actually that not hard. But nearly all of them leave some kind of trace. Even ones that just fling meteorites at planets, and most civilisations have defensive systems to handle these known weapons."

She then straightened and looked back at Max, no levity in her eyes. "But not the Invincible. No defence system known can stop it. And it doesn't leave a trace. Anyone could just decide to take out some race's home planet and chances are, no one would know who did it. That Max is infinitely more dangerous. Mass destruction without consequence. That is why this has gotten much more serious"

Max gulped. He usually didn't have much room in his busy career for fear. Any life threatening situation that came up was usually something Max could see as some kind of fun new experience. But something about some massive structure taking out the Earth… just cause some guy up there felt like it. And no one would know or be able to stop him…

Max shivered and turned to Darla. "Geek. Any news?"

The Geek looked up at Max's call and excused herself from the Professor. She nodded politely to the Galactic Councilwoman and said "Yes actually. We know what he still needs"

"How?" Max and the Councilwoman asked.

It was the living light bulb, Professor Langstrum who answered, floating up next to Darla. "It appears all major components required to make a rather frightening number of experiments have already been taken from my friend here" A light shining up Darla.

"We never noticed it. All the things that the Professor mentioned are all made by our company. And when I looked through our records I can see thefts of nearly of them from one warehouse or another. I didn't notice it as this was happening worldwide and none of the thefts were deemed important enough to reach my level, except the one Max was hired for"

The Councilwoman nodded thoughtfully. "So this Lagomorph has all he needs to make his minions"

"No actually" The professor said in a cheer voice. "There is one part I know he does not have. At least not completely. A special kind of plasma made from metal, called Ludedome. It is not something they could make with the materials here on Earth. I would say it would be around…. 500 years before this species is capable of producing such a chemical"

Darla nodded. "Yep. I've gone through it with the Professor and there is no way they have the stuff. But we know they are still here."

"And how is that" The Councilwoman asked

"Because Jumba should still be able to produce a batch. But the process of making Ludedome from scratch will take vast amounts of energy and time. He could need a reactor able to reach 10000 degrees, the right elements, which have also been stolen from my company and many many weeks of time. It is almost certain they are somewhere in the solar system, hiding and biding their time. This Kinswell has all the time he needs, or so he thinks"

"So there is a chance" The Councilwoman said. "Though we also won't be able to enter you system as quickly as I thought"

"Why's that?" Max asked, wondering why the cavalry suddenly had to be held back, is if they didn't want to be early.

"If I sent them to Earth in hyper drive, they would get here in a few hours. However the Invincible would detect them in almost an instant and leave. Possible not before destroying the Earth. If the Lagomorph was cold hearted enough, he might decide to do so the remove any evidence of his plans."

"Ok. So we need to wait for this guy and… hold on" Max said slowly, a sudden idea coming to him. "Geek, how did he know to take what he needed from your warehouses? Scanners?"

It was the Professor who answered "Not quite. The ship is most likely listening in on all communication being sent around the world. All texts, emails and phone calls, and such"

Noting the wide eyed expression on Max he added "That really is not that impressive. We are thousands of years more advanced then you, technologically speaking that is… no offense"

"No taken" Max said distractedly. "So… is it possible to say Geek, in one of your emails you send to your board of directors or something that you have some of this Ludedome suddenly?

The professor seemed dubious "Though you could reference the material's chemical structure, which would almost certainly be detected by the Invincible if it is still listening in… I see no good reason why you would suddenly have a vast quantity of this material available to you. It is, as I said, far ahead of your technological abilities to create"

Max mused. "We did have aliens here recently… and one other these guys had their ship crash in the Hudson. We could easily lie, say you found a load of this stuff on board after it was dragged up. That's possible, right?"

The professor actually seemed to consider this. "Yes, possible, possible, if the right language was used... Would you be able to get this ship out of your… Hudson?

Max shook his head "Cocky's ship… kind of dissolved. But as an excuse goes, how about it? The guy above our heads doesn't know we are on to him"

Darla, the Councilwoman, Pleakley and Agent Bubbles all looked at each other and, as one nodded in agreement. The professor just glowed blue to show his support.

Max grinned, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Great… let's set a good old fashioned sting"


	27. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

 _It's been so long since I've been in a stake out that I've forgotten how mind numbingly boring they can be,_ Max thought idly as he waited inside his hiding place in one of Darla's warehouses. The space was small, even for Max, forcing him to stay in a cross legged position so he wouldn't knock over any what remained of his food supply and so he could see through his eye holes.

Eye holes he had poked through the cardboard box that he was hiding in. To be honest, when in a warehouse which contained an endless labyrinth of dull brown boxes, it was really the only place he could reliably hide. And the idea had sounded fine when he had first mentioned it to The Geek and the Councilwoman. Setup an email which described the moving of a batch of this Ludedome from this warehouse to a secure location for testing. That was all. Just send out the email and have Max hide out in a sealed box with some supplies in it. The box was actually not just cardboard but a cube unit inside a normal cardboard box designed to hide all heat and radiation that Max gave off, hopefully making him invisible.

So all was set. Max was placed opposite the fake box that the bad guy(s) would come for and he would pounce on them, but not before sending a signal to Bubbles and small battalion of secret service goons to come in and knock some heads.

This had all seemed a good plan. That had been 3 days ago. For 3 days Max had remained inside the box, his legs now completely numb and his stomach rumbling occasionally. He hadn't stocked up for such a long stretch. He had even started to hallucinate about all the boxes around him spring legs and all running away, and him, for some unknown reason, having to get them all back into place before his supervisor appeared.

"What if they never come? What if I starve here, waiting for them?" Max said in worry, not even thinking about the fact that he could leave at any point.

"I could start crewing on my left pinkie. That should tide me over for a couple more days if I make it last" Max said, looking longingly at his twitching digit. Then he remembered that his legs were already numb, so his toes were up for grabs as well.

Before the thought of self-cannibalism went any further Max heard the familiar clicking on the radio next to him. The only contact he had for the outside world, linked to another radio in Bubbles car.

"Hello Max. Report in" Came the calm and measure tone of Agent Bubbles.

"Bubbles. What do you think I would miss the least? My left pinkie finger or my left pinkie toe… and what do you think has the most meat on it?" Max said in a hoarse voice

There was silence on the other line for a few seconds before Bubbles responded in the same measured tone "I believe we need to get you out of there."

"Can't do that. Not until I…. awwwwww" Max said before letting out a long pitiful moan.

"What's wrong?" Bubbles said, his voice suddenly urgent.

"I… moved my leg…. Feelings come back…... dammed pins and needles" Max said desperately, who was now considering eating the whole leg now and be done with it.

"Max. I'm sending one of my…(click)"

"Bubbles" Max said, noticing the line replaced suddenly with static. Hearing no reply Max stopped messing around with his foot and picked up the radio, clicking from one channel to the over and asking for Bubbles over and over.

When no reply came, Max actually considered getting out of the box and heading over to the agents car. He considered this just before he heard the silence of the warehouse be replaced with the echoing of something tapping.

Max turned off the radio to concentrate on this new noise. It was something tapping, over and over. Infact it was a single tapping sound followed by two soft sounding thuds, repeated again and again. The noise became notably clearer and louder.

What was causing the noise became obvious to Max. The sound of footsteps followed by the clicking of a cane. The Lagomorph, Kinswell, was inside the factory.

Max, pushing away 3 days' worth of fatigue and boredom leaned on the edge of his box, looking out the eye slits desperately. He couldn't see anything yet, but the sound was definitely getting closer, that he was sure. He tried with all his effort to not make any major noise or possibly shove the box whilst getting some possible angle to see…

And there he was. Walking confidently into Max's view. A Lagomorph. A Lagomorph walking along with the help of a cane.

 _So this was Kinswell_ , Max noted, as he took a long hard look at the character walking casually along the isle of boxes Max was hiding in. Max could see, now that his head was turned from one side of the isle to the side he was hiding in, Kinswell's features clear.

He did look distinctive, and not just because of the futuristic clothing he was wearing, which included a deep red jacket and black smart looking shoes. His facial features were the main part of him that got Max's attention. Specifically the pattern of fur he had on his head. Most Lagomorphs either had a simple tone to their fur coat, usually black, grey, white or brown. Some though had the odd patches or spots on their body which made them look unique.

Kinswell, despite being fully clothed, did show a very unique patch on his face. At the top of his forehead he had a spreading pattern of black like tendrils which spread out and over his face. The design made Max think of jet black ivy growing out and around his head and down his neck. It also made Max think that it could be artificial, some sort of Lagomorph dye job or tattoo, but it didn't matter. It did grab the eye.

Kinswell, on his part, was looking around the isle, from one side to the other. He hardly looked concerned that he was breaking and entering on private property. Private property belonging to a company that he had stolen from on a number of previous occasions. To Max it almost looked like he was shopping, looking from box to box with what looked like a bored expression.

"Can't these humans pack anything away in these places that isn't zarking brown?" Kinswell said, sweeping his cane lazily from side to side as he did a slow spin.

 _Zarking?_ Max thought distracted as he followed the monologue Lagomorph. _Must be some alien swear word… mental note: …. Zarking. Need to remember that one,_ Max thought, always happy to learn profanity in whatever languages and whatever it's actually mean was.

"How hard is it to find two boxes?" Kinswell said, a touch of irritation in his voice.

…wait, two boxes? Max suddenly thought in confusion. The message he had asked The Geek to send had specifically mentioned one box. _Maybe here to grab something else on the way. Maybe he's run out of toiletries up there in his super ship._

Max didn't bother finishing that line of thought as he saw Kinswell's ears shoot up and a grin flash onto his face as he spotted the crate where the fake Ludedome was stored. With a couple quick steps and taps of his cane he was in front of the box where he kneeled, with some obvious difficulty, to read the tag at the base of the unit.

Max, in a slow careful motion moved his hand back to the radio linked to Agent Bubbles and click on transmit.

"Big guy. He's here. Time to come in and… do whatever it is you guy do" Max said quietly. But as he changed to receive he only heard static.

 _Come on dammit_ , Max thought as he stared daggers at the hand set.

"Wonderful. This is the unit…" Kinswell said, with obvious relief plane on his voice. He then turned from the box and started scanning the boxes opposite, specifically the ones around where Max was hiding.

"So if that's the Ludedome then the dear party crasher is …. Ah, lovely. You're in there, aren't you" He said happily as he pointed his cane directly at Max.

Max didn't have time to show his surprise or, more importantly, lean over and reach for the object resting in the corner of the box. Instead, the instant the cane was pointed at him the top of the box ripped away in one swift tear, leaving the top of Max's temporary cardboard home completely open to…

"Why, hello there" Max said with forced cheer as he looked up into the grinning face of another Lagomorph. A Lagomorph grinning down at him who happened to have with black bug like eyes, four long arms and antennas on his forehead. Oh, also he happened to be holding a forklift in one of those arms. Max guessed he had just met the Lago-Experiment.

What followed was not Max running away whilst screaming in a high pitched screech. No. What he was doing was making a tactical retreat and bellowing out a deafening battle cry. That was how Max saw it, or at least would force himself to remember seeing it afterwards if he survived. This was the primary thought passing through Max's mind as he tried to spin his embarrassing fleeing into something less cringeworthy as he desperately spun to one side as another crate swept past where he was just standing which quickly crashed into another isle.

Max looked back to see the Lago-Experiment casually run forward whilst grabbing nearby crates and boxes to throw. It didn't look like the size or weight of the boxes gave the creature any problems. He picked up each one and threw it at incredible speeds without any obvious effort.

 _So, just as strong or possibly stronger then Stitch_. Max didn't think getting into an arm biting contest would help him this time around and after making a few pop shots with his Lugar, saw his bullets weren't doing any good either. So the plan remained the same. Run like crazy and try not to die.

As plans went, it appeared to be working. At least that had been the case until, after Max's luck had finally reached its limit, one of the boxes caught his legs as it went past, violently tripping him up and leaving him sprawling on the floor. He had just enough time to look back and up at the advancing creature. On the list of horrible things Max had previously encountered during his exciting career, this thing was at the very top of the list.

It wasn't the super strength, apparent indestructability or tenacity that got the Max, though those certainly helped. It was it's still and lifeless expression. Seeing the face of a Lagomorph, even mutated like the one in front of him, with such a dead look in its eyes, like it was just some puppet being pulled along by something was just wrong to Max. It also meant he couldn't engage it in any banter as he usually liked when having a confrontation with his on-going enemies.

Max had come up with a plan to deal with the Lago-Experiment. But, even for him, he didn't want to kill such a creature. It played dangerously close to breaking the one Lagomorph law that was held above all others.

Do not kill another Lagomorph. That was it. End of sentence.

If he planned in advance to kill this thing, he could consider himself to be a law breaker. At one point not too long ago, that thought had not bothered Max. At least it had not bothered him in comparison to NOT killing a certain Lagomorph named Cocky at the time, but that was then. Before all this, he had had his misgivings about aiming to kill someone close to his species. But now…

… Now Max was sure the creature walking up to him was not alive. He couldn't say exactly how he knew but all Max could consider this thing was as a walking corpse. Fair game for him to do what he liked.

However the idea of actually killing the thing was becoming more unlikely, not because of some small ounce of justice Max had, but because the thing was probably going to beat the living snot out of him beforehand. Infact as Max looked up at the beast staring blankly down at him, he wondered if he might actually die from the beating this thing could muster.

 _Fear for my own safety… huh. That's new,_ Max thought dumbly as he saw the thing raise all four of its arms.

Suddenly, from the recesses of Max's mind came a memory. A memory of a film he had watched years ago, with Sam, of another four armed giant loaming over a shrimp of a man, just like him and he just remembered happened next.

Max still on the floor, leaned forward and with every ounce of muscle he had, punched the creature squarely between the legs, whilst shouting "Mortal Kombat!"

The creature, though showing no obvious sign of pain, actually stumbled back, legs suddenly wobbling slightly. Taking the opportunity whilst it was there, Max got back to his feet and started to run back the way he came, carefully sprinting past the downed monster.

 _Thank you Jonny Cage!,_ Max thought giddily.

But even with the hit, the thing behind him now recovered fast. If anything it looked as though Max had only confused it. It didn't show any real sign of damage or discomfort.

"Come on, even fighting dirty doesn't work?" Max screamed back

Max upped his pace. He needed to get back to the box, as fast as possible. He just hoped that Kinswell hadn't looked inside at his trump card. He didn't think he had anything else that could take out this thing.

Making another turn back into the isle this had all started at, Max looked down and saw… no one. It looked like the other guy was in hiding whilst his pet did all the work. Fine by Max.

He turned just as he saw the other monster turn the corner. This time though the Lago-Experiment wasn't running. He was bouncing on the top of the isles above him from stack to stack like a monkey. Actually now that Max looked, the way he climbed with his 4 arms made him more resemble a spider.

"Well that's certainly freaky" Max mumbled before fixing he gaze back on his target

Making one final jump back to the boxes, he looked around desperately for the remains of his crate. It wasn't hard to find. Though the creature had torn off the top and then thrown it to one side, the unit was still mostly all there, including its contents.

Max, already hearing the Lago-Experiment above him desperately rummaged through the small collection of items he had been stuck with for the last three days and picked up his backup plan.

His backup plan being the name he had given to the alien cannon Cocky had given to him 3 weeks ago, during the crisis with Sam. A cannon which, as Max remembered it, had been able to take out his partner whilst he held the form and powers of an old god. He even remembered the blast the thing caused when he had fired it. The creator it left behind still hadn't been filled in by the city.

Max admittedly did not have fond memories of the weapon. But when it came down to it, Max was facing something designed to take out a city. Might as well use a weapon capable of doing the same thing against it.

Max spun around with the gun, taking aim at the Lago-Experiment. The thing had been climbing down the isles metal frame, loaming above and looked ready to just drop down and tear him limb from limb.

With its tip already glowing, Max made sure he had the thing clean in his sight before he put his finger on the trigger and smiled.

However, just as Max prepared some cool one liner to throw out before vaporising the Lago-Experiment, Max heard a distinct and familiar cry.

"Poocha Chubugga!" Was all Max heard as he, the Lago-Experiment and a certain blue ball of fluff collided with each other.

The last words Max could spit out before the wind was driven from his lungs was a rage filled bellow "Motherfu-(oof)!"

What was suddenly created was a ball of chaos comprised of white and blue fur spinning around before all 3 occupants shot out across the aisle. All three looked up at stared over at their two opposites.

Max, Stitch and the Lago-Experiment. All three looking at each other, suddenly in an three way Mexican standoff, each waiting for the other to act first. It almost looked like a scene from one of those old westerns. Max noted however that he was the only one armed in this fight, but ironically, was probably the one with the least fire power.

Max looked over to Stitch, whose main attention seemed to be focused on the Lago-Experiment. Still keeping as much attention as he could on said Lago-Look-alike, Max said, raging close to boiling point "Twice you have done this now, Stitch. TWICE! And I, for once, haven't instigated anything! Stop… um… being here!"

The ending of that particular line of abuse was a bit lacking, Max mused, but he honestly was to angry to form proper offense at this point. He had planned this. HIM. Max had set out a careful, if basic, plan to catch the bad guys. A plan which needed patience. The effort it took to stay quiet inside the box had taxed him to his very core. And now. Even though Stitch had only just come in, he had missed with his shot. He had only just seen the laser blast pass harmlessly passed the falling beast and went off into open sky. And the gun took an AGE to charge up a full powered shot like that one. That one had been pre-prepared.

Feeling the urgency of the moment come back to him, Max said tiredly to Stitch. "You want to fight me or freaky over there?"

Stitch looked from Max, to the Lago-Experiment and back to Max. The look on his face said Max probably didn't have the right to call anyone freaky but instead settled on "I chase Lagomorph scent. Lagomorph kidnapped Jumba" He said in that same snarling voice of his.

"Wow, you knew a Lagomorph kidnapped Jumba, so you came to my city and decided to attack the first one you found and threw a car at him. Seriously, when I am the one pointing out and mocking your violent actions, you have royally screwed up."

Stitch was obviously about to come back with some retort when the Lago-Experiment shot forward and decided to continue the fight, obviously bored with the dialog.

Max on his part was tempted to let Stitch and the other Experiment duke it out whilst he hunted out Kinswell but decided against it. Even if only to prolong the fight, he at least needed to wait a couple more minutes for the cannon to charge again.

And with that resolution made, Max jumped forward just in time to catch a Stitch, once again, in the face. This time though, it had not really been Stitch's fault, as he had been thrown bodily by the Lago-Experiment to crash hard into one of the metal isles and Max just happened to be in the way at the time.

An accident Max was more than happy to ignore. "OK, this is getting close to a trope. Get off" he said threw gritted teeth.

Stitch got up groggily "He's stronger than me"

"And?" Max asked, dusting himself off and dislodging himself from the crate he had crashed into.

Stitch just shrugged. "Not used to it"

"Ok, get used to it. He's coming" Max said as he saw the thing make another charge.

What followed Max wished he could call a fight. He wished he could imagine it as some sort of epic crash between warriors or some Lord of the Rings rubbish. But really, if he was to put it kindly, he classify himself as a participant…. And if he was unkind, a punching bag.

The problem was that nothing he did could even hurt the thing. He shot it at point blank, which did nothing. He punched, kicked and bit it, but all his efforts didn't even seem to annoy the monster, who was mostly busy dealing with Stitch, and that was hardly going any better.

Stitch had started out well, jumping around and pummelling the creature with punches and bites that did seem to hurt the thing, if only mildly. Max even thought Stitch stood a chance of winning, making him take back half the horrible things he said.

But then, in one move it was all over. Stitch, after staying in one place for too long got grabbed by one of the four arms. And after that he was helpless. The bigger creature just pummelled him with blow after blow, shaking the earth as each swing slammed Stitch further and further down into the shattered concrete.

And when the monster stood up and Max could clearly see the unmoving body of Stitch, he did the only thing he thought might just save him and jumped back and towards the gun. It didn't exactly go DING when it was ready, and he couldn't see the display from his angel to see if it was charged, but he didn't have a choice. He rolled backwards, grabbing the gun with the roll and pounced back to his feet, gun raised up and pointed directly at the Lago-Experiment, still showing that same blank expression he had throughout the entire fight.

Max gritted his teeth and hoping harder than he had even done, looked down at the display.

You have fired One full charge shot. Please press the button on the barrel's base to begin charging another shot

The words flashing in black on the blue display drained all the energy from his body. He hadn't set the gun to recharge. The thing had been lying there, doing nothing. And Max could only find himself to blame.

He had just enough time to click the button and see an estimate of 3 minutes appear on the display before a hand clamped around his arm in a grip of iron. The Lago-Experiment casually took the gun from Max's hand and threw it to one side.

In one futile act Max took out his trusted Lugar for one final shot. He knew the eye didn't work so maybe a bullet up the nose?

He never got the chance as, with another grab with one of the experiment's remaining two hands he grabbed the Lugar right from Max's grip, like he hadn't even been holding it.

The thing looked over the Luger, almost with what seemed like curiosity, before taking the gun in both his free hands and crushing up.

Max looked down in horror as he precious peace keep was bent and snapped into a misshapen lump of twisted metal.


	28. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"…no…" Max said pitifully, looking down at his gun in a screwed up ball of warped metal.

"I am sorry" Said Kinswell, moving into view from his hiding place down one of the isles.

Max looked up to him, the wish for revenge plain in his eyes. He had known that gun almost as long as he knew Sam. Kinswell though just put his free hand up defensively, his other still resting on his cane for support. "This is not bragging, I promise you. I honestly am sorry to go breaking your weapon. But I was afraid you might be inclined to use it on me"

Max didn't have time to throw back an insult as both he and the unconscious Stitch were slammed down onto the floor, belly down. Max felt on unmovable hand clamp down over his torso and another on the back of his head. He wriggled as much as he could but he just couldn't get any purchase.

"That's better. Now we can have a small talk without you able to hurt me and me not needing to hurt you. So…. A lagomorph?" Kinswell asked, as he dropped his staff and actually sat down on the ground opposite Max. He gave what Max guessed was supposed to be a friendly welcoming smile. "On a planet nearly run entirely by some evolved monkeys it's a Lagomorph of all things that stumbles onto my plan."

He gave a quick nod to the supplies "I'm going to guess, as you were waiting for me, that there is no supply of Ludedome that's miraculously appeared on this planet?"

Max tried to give a grin, despite his face being half buried on the concrete.

"I'll take that as a no. But that's fine. I did find it a bit odd that the last component we needed suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I do not know all the science that goes into creating…" Kinswell looked away from Max and up at the four armed lagomorph experiment holding he and Stitch down. A look of joy sprung up as he continued "…such wonderful creatures. But Doctor Jumba did say it seemed highly suspicious."

"Oh god you're monologuing" Max grumbled quietly to himself.

"Pardon?" Kinswell asked in an honestly confused voice.

"No, no, sorry to interrupt, go on" Max quickly replied.

"Hmm, anyway, we haven't stopped production of the substance. I left Jumba behind to handle that… I suppose you know who Jumba is?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Guy I was asked to find." Max answered half-heartedly, still looking forlornly over at his broken fire arm.

"So you found me from his disappearance. Good to know." Kinswell said. He looked like he wanted to continue until he and Max spotted Stitch coming around.

"I see you're awake 626. No permanent damage I hope?" Kinswell asked, again in that same tone Max was starting to find annoying. It sounded like he genuinely did care that Stitch hadn't been hurt in any way. There was none of the usual egotistical characteristics that Max associated with the bad guys he chased.

As soon as Stitch finished groaning and fixed his two black eyes on Kinswell, anger blazed inside them as he let rip a series of alien insults that even made Max blush, but not without noting a few of them.

"Wait wait wait!" Kinswell said, both hands raised in a peaceful sign as he tried to calm Stitch. "Please. I have no wish to cause you any more trouble then I already have. Now please tell me, why you have come here? I assume it involves Doctor Jumba"

"You took him! Where Jumba?!" Was the only thing Stitch said in between the snarls and growls he made.

"Jumba is safe, I assure you" Kinswell said with a placating gesture. "I do regret the need to abduct your friend, but he is the only one who could help me with my task"

Stitch's anger didn't look reduced in the slightest as he looked from Kinswell to the Lago-Experiment holding him down.

"Him? Yes, he and a good many others like him are the reason I need Jumba. But he is well and I do not expect he will be missing for long. He said he would only need another week to complete the procedure and he will be returned to your island as soon as possible."

For some reason that Max couldn't understand, Stitch seemed to be buying it. He was obviously getting less and less angry as Kinswell spoke in the melodic voice of his.

Stitch though did seem to hold some reserves of anger left for the Lagomorph. "Making slaves…"

Kinswell though seemed to brighten up at this. "Ah, no. They are not slaves 626-"

"Stitch!" Stitch shouted back.

"Sorry, of course. Stitch. But as I was saying, they are not slaves. They are, unlike all the other experiments Jumba has made, such as you, not even alive"

"… come again?" Stitch said, eyeing the monster holding him. He looked plenty alive.

"They have no organic brains. At least not fully formed ones. They have no concept of self. Even basic animal instincts. They can breath and that's it. Their minds have been left nearly completely underdeveloped. They are clone meat effectively. Never alive to begin with. I control them like automatons. It sounds horrific but… well it seemed the most ethical choice I could make. I couldn't ask Doctor Jumba to make an army of experiments like you Stitch. Not ones with self-will that I would have to brainwash or control."

 _That doesn't make any sense. Surely the ethical thing would be to NOT create the army of mutants…_

But despite this train of thought, Max could clearly see Stitch was…. nodding! He was nodding his acceptance at this. Granted Max didn't know Stitch that well, but from the small fight he had with the little guy, he didn't imagine he could be so easily bull***tted.

Kinswell, noticing that Stitch seemed to be docile turned back to Max. "And you. Again I am surprised to see a fellow Lagomorph find me. In any case, I do apologise again for this. I generally don't go in for violence. How about this. What will you do if I get my friend over here to let go of you and Stitch? Do you think we could have a reasonable conversation together, one Lagomorph to another?"

Kinswell did seem to be speaking honestly. Something about the way he spoke seemed to be affecting Max.

 _Well… It was the Experiment thing that broke my gun. And I've only just met this guy. I don't really have anything against him. And he is a fellow Lagomorph… Maybe I'll hear him out. He doesn't seem that bad a guy and…_

 _…_

 _…wait. What the hell am I thinking?_

"Well?" Kinswell asked, still sitting down and staring over at Max.

"Well what?" Max asked, trying to shake off the weird feeling coming over him.

"Well, what would you do if I let you go?" Kinswell asked again, adding a friendly laugh at the end.

"I dunno. Tear your face off. I don't generally try to guess how my violent attacks will go and just let instinct do its thing"

There was a sudden silence as Kinswell kept the same friendly grin on his face, but his eyes showed just how unexpected Max's comment had been.

"Wha… how did." Kinswell said, genuine confusion now plain on his face as he got up unsteadily and moved over to Max. He stared right into his eyes, concentration replacing the confusion.

"I usually don't like relying on my gift but there's no reason why it shouldn't work…. WOW!" Kinswell said, stumbling back as he broke eye contact.

"That… those are some defensives you have there. I've never seen anything so… wait, have you been trained?"

"Trained?" Max asked

"Yes. Those mental defences. I can barely budge them." Kinswell said, an odd look crossing his face. "A Lagomorph psychic… you… you weren't trained at the Institute, were you?"

"I feel the conversation's shifted out of my control. What are you talking about?" Max asked.

Kinswell didn't seem to want to let this odd subject go though. "The Institute? The army experiment into Lagomorph Psychic Development?"

A hopefully look appeared in Kinswell's eyes before noting the confusion in Max's. With a sad sigh Kinswell stood up unsteadily and started to walk away.

"Shame… I think we are done here." Kinswell said as he began to make his way to the exit to the warehouse.

Max though was lost in thought. Something about what Kinswell had said seemed to cause a itch at the back of his mind. Like trying to remember the name to a song you can remember the beat to, but not the lyrics. And then, without fully realising why, Max said

"…. Sergeant Collins?"

Kinswell stopped in mid step, almost tripping before turning back to Max. He looked visibly shaken before a wide grin split his face. "You were there!" he said, running back to face Max again.

"I cannot believe it. Of all the corners of the universe and I stumble across another cadet. What's your name? Mines Kinswell by the way" He said, all calm and control replaced with desperate eagerness.

Max felt that same tugging sensation at his emotions from earlier. Now he had been faced by it for a short while, and seeing Stitch affected, Max guessed it was something Kinswell was doing.

"Stop messing with my head" Max said through clenched teeth.

"Oh, sorry. I wish I could stop it but I can't" Kinswell said, still all smiles, if looking now a little embarrassed. He took out of his pocket a small wrist bracelet of some kind. "I could stop it by using this. This is what I usually wear when meeting new people. I don't like relying on my powers too much, but I need them active to control big, white and beautiful over here" He said, nodding to the Lago-Experiment.

"Well that's easy, put on the bracelet" Max said sweetly.

"And your threat to tear off my face?" Kinswell asked.

Max shrugged. "I didn't rescind it"

"Then you will have to make due. You can sense what I'm doing though, so just fight it. Best I can do I'm afraid." He said, laughing lightly again as he sat down in front of Max.

Suddenly, speaking fast Kinswell continued "As I said, I cannot turn it off. It's what they discovered me for, when the army guys found me. My powers make people like me. When I was a kid, everyone did what I asked and when I moved to a new school, suddenly everyone was wanting to be my friend… it was only when I got to the institute and they were able to block my power was I able to make any real friends. Ones I had to work at to get…" A distant happy look crossed Kinswell's face as some obvious happy memories seemed to be playing for him.

"And you? How were you brought in? I'm guessing it was Stone Face Collin, right"

Max paused. Did he actually know this guy? He didn't seem to recognise him but he knew about… where Max had been after his memories had stopped.

"At school I could read everyone's mind. Couldn't turn it off either" Max simply said, not happy to revealing something, not so much a guarded secret, but a new part of his life that he had only just discovered.

"That sounds about right. Yeah, knew a couple guys who had that story."

Max thought hard, wondering how he should try to get answers. Maybe just go with something close to the truth.

"I don't remember much of my time there. All a bit hazy." Max said, hoping he wasn't sounding too obvious.

Kinswell though seemed to nod as if this wasn't too surprising. "A lot of the guys who left are like that. Any around during… the Incident, had problems. Some had trouble with their memory. The psychic backlash when that monster attacked…" He said all this with the air of someone desperate to talk about their past to someone who could relate.

"Monster?" Max asked, now very interested in what Kinswell knew.

"Yeah… the institute. It was a place the government had tucked away. A school where we with the "Gift" could learn to control it and use it for the good of the military. But… well, one of the students… went cannibal."

"Urm… what?" Max asked

"You had to be there and remember what happened to know what I mean but… something came out from the lower levels of the base. Something….wrong. Some monster that had the psychic signature of dozens of Lagomorphs. He was so powerful… so terrifying. He destroyed nearly everything and left the base in ruins. The project was shut down after that"

Max pondered this, wondering if this might be why he had those gaps in his memories. If he got clobbered by this Psychic Monster, then that could explain a few things. Not things that Max was honestly that interested in. Despite his urges earlier, to Max, the past was another country. A country that had posted him as a criminal that he couldn't return to again.

"If you want to know, that's why I'm doing all this, you see" Kinswell said, indicating the Lago-Experiment again. "The military just brushed the whole thing under the rug but I'm not one to forget that easily. That thing that attacked us… he destroyed the only place I loved. So I'm going after him. As soon as I heard of this Jumba guy, I had to track him down and get some backup. As soon as I have a platoon of these babies ready, I'm going on the hunt for that thing"

"Wow, on a quest to kill a monster Lagomorph… wait. Do you actually mean to…"

"That thing is not a Lagomorph. You would know that if you'd seen it. With those powers of his… he looked like a spawn from the deepest depths of the edge of space…"

"Ok. Sweet. Sounds right up my alley. Mind if I come?" Max said, trying to give his best 'I promise not to outright pummel you, but infact I will' look.

Kinswell seemed to be considering the question but in the end just shook his head. "No. No, this is my quest. I need to track him down. Though you have impressed me, finding me with what little clues I assume I left, I do not actually trust you. At least not with what I need to do"

Kinswell turned away and began once again to walk away. Whilst doing that, the Lago-Experiment grabbed a section of one of the isles and tore apart the metal frame like it was copper wire. With no apparent effort he twisted the frame into bands around Max and Stitch, trapping them both. As soon as both were secure, the Lago-Experiment got up and caught up with his master…. Or himself. The whole control thing was still confusing Max.

Reaching a corner and turning aware from view Kinswell looked back for one last time to Max.

"I don't know if you remember your time there, but if your memories do clear, and you do remember that monstrosity, just remember I'll be out there, hunting it down… and I will kill it. You have my word…. That thing will pay for what he did to our home and all of our comrades…. Max will pay"

And with that, Kinswell left.


	29. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

"…huh" was all Max could say as he looked at where Kinswell had just been before making his exit.

 _Max…. Max must be a common Lagomorph name, right? I mean, admittedly don't remember anything about that place he mentioned so I can't deny what he said... but that doesn't mean I'm some monster that went mad and destroyed…_

"AH God! Who am I kidding. The description fits me like a glove… and how many apocalypses and end of the world prophecies have I been in? Destroying one army facility when I was younger seems the baby steps to what I do now…"

Except Max found this different. This seemed somewhat personal. When fate handed him a metaphysical big red button that would lead untold destruction, which it did on far too many occasions, he would be slamming his fist down with a childish grin before anyone could read him the fine print. But being told this might have been where it all started. Where he went from normal if not odd Lagomorph to the… person he was today. He didn't like to think there was some dark hole in his past that was to blame… or to thank for what he was now.

Max was knocked out of his thoughts when he spotted Stitch looking at him. He didn't seem to annoyed in anyway, even with his body tied up he looked pretty content to just lay there.

"Um, blue boy. You all there?" Max asked, trying to wiggle he way free of the bent metal frame.

In a dopy voice Stitch mumbled "Stitch a bad person"

Max paused in mid wriggle and stared at Stitch. "I'm sorry. What?"

"Bad person. Bad people attack bunnies without warning…" Stitch said, voice slurred, almost sounding drunk.

"Really? Has this suddenly turned into a pity party" Max said incredulously

"Stitch not a good per-"

"Ok, great to hear!" Max said, cutting Stitch off. "Now you know what you can do to get back in my good books? Get yourself and me free. Sound like a plan?"

Stitch looked at Max, still with that dazed look in his eyes and with sluggish jerks, snapped the metal bars around him like twigs.

On shaky legs Stitch slowly walked over and with the same slow and somehow lazy effort, broke the metal frame wrapped around Max.

"Right. Good to be free" Max said happily as he stretched. His good mood though was shot when he saw the remains of his prized Lugar. That thing had been with him for more years then he could count. It had gone good work in its time, fatally apprehending fleeing perpetrators.

"Need to go. Go home… stop making more trouble" Stitch said, eyes glued to the floor. He looked terrible.

"Hmm, OK Stitch. I have a feeling you are still under the effects of that other Lagomorph friend of ours. I don't know how to break the effect but if TV has shown me anything…"

Stitch had just enough time to look up to wonder what Max was talking about before Max's palm slapped sharply against his face. Stitch rocked back, stunned.

"Feeling your old self, whatever that is?" Max said happily.

"Stitch need to go hom-" SLAP

"Hehe, this is satisfying. Stitch, do me a favour and don't avoid this next one"

Stitch looked lost as he saw Max's hand go slowly back and rush forward and meet sharply with his cheek. It actually stung.

"Need to… need to stop-" SLAP

"Well if you're not gonna stop me, I'll just keep doing this. No idea if this is helping you, but it's certainly helping me" Max said

SLAP

"I think that's-"

SLAP

"That is-"

SLAP!

Max reached back for another swing but Stitch's hand's reached out and violently grabbed both his arms. Max still kept his cheeky grin even as the calm passive face of Stitch transformed into one of barely restrained fury.

"You. Stop. Now" Each word came out in stone.

"You back together?" Max asked conversationally.

The anger slowly dissipated from Stitch's face as he looked around. He seemed to come to a realization.

"Kwishta!…. He messed with my head" Stitch said, sounding more himself, though still in that gnarled broken voice of him "…It turns out I don't like that"

"Oh good, you're not talking in the third person." Max said happily, still held off the air in Stitch's grip.

Stitched sighed and let go of Max. "Ok. Whatever that other bunny did has worn off. Thanks for-"

Stitch was interrupted as Max slammed his head hard against Stitch's, flooring him.

"FYI" Max said casually as he as he leaned back and looked down at the stunned experiment "That was for everything BEFORE you got hypnotised. Seriously, you ruined my carefully laid out plan. And did you hear me? Carefully and plan? I make it a point to avoid either of those words and their meanings but for this case, I made an exception."

Stitch slowly got up and looked ready to pounce on Max "You… urgh… Ok. Ok. I'm sorry. I knew a Lagomorph took Jumba… and he came here. You seemed best fit"

"Hmm. I see. OK. How about this. You go back to my apartment building and leave the actual detecting to me. How does that sound?"

"Where are you going? If you're going after other bunny I come. Need to get Jumba back."

"He's gone. And I… I need to clear my head and think. Anyway, your pals Pleakley and Bubbles are there."

"Ok, I'm going… " Stitch said, shaking his head one more time, as if to clear some residual fatigue from the fight and began walking to the exit.

It was only a couple seconds later as Max scoped up the remains of his gun that he heard Stitch say "…wait, where do you live?"

It was only a few minutes later after cleaning up at the warehouse, finding Agent Bubbles and collection of other secret service goons unconscious, waking them up, explaining what had happened and finally getting Stitch dropped off at his apartment, Max was driving passively through the streets of New York.

After multiple days in that box he had lost all bearing on the time of day. To find it was late evening though made him a little happy. More likely to find some good old criminals. A pick pocket, purse thief, maybe even a good old hold up in a conveniences store? Something simple. That's what Max felt like he needed. Something un-complicated… except.

 _Except I don't feel like savaging something. The universe has gone insane… or I've gone sane. Either way things are just wrong... I thought driving around would clear my head but it's all still buzzing around in here…. Think I need to make a house call_

30 minutes later

Once again Max found himself inside the hallway leading to Philips office. He should have been considerate and called ahead of time. But after sitting in a box for three days, learning all this stuff just now...

He convinced himself that he was here purely to get another look at his own memories. Use that TV, apologies to the doctor and just be on his way, for the case. But honestly, he just wanted an excuse to talk. It seemed every time he came to one of these sessions either he would feel… well not better, but more content at least. The doctor was like that wise neighbour you got in those sitcoms who always gave that advice that precisely resolved whatever random problem was affecting the main character.

Wasting no time or manners, Max knocked twice on the door and without waiting for an answer, opened it and walked inside.

Thankful he hadn't caught Philips either away, asleep or with another client, Max noticed the doctor in the kitchen area of the main room making, not to Max's surprise, a cup of coffee.

Philip on his part looked mildly surprised to see Max just storm into his office.

"Max. Our session isn't until tomorrow" He said casually, leaning on the raised table and taking a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah. Bit of an emergency… is there such a thing as an urgent psychiatry session?" Max asked as he walked in.

"Usually an urgent session can be handled over the phone if a patient is feeling particularly harassed by his personal problems. And that only covers those not suffering from physiological problems that can affect their mental wellbeing" Philips said, as if listing off so description learnt in some long ago lesson. It sounded scripted.

"Well doesn't matter. Need urgent session now. Need to do the whole TV inner memory thing now. Chop Chop" Max said, not quite hiding the tension in his voice.

Philips however didn't appear to be in any hurry to do anything. He just took a long pull of his coffee and when done let out a contented sigh.

"Max. If you honestly feel the need to go through that hypnosis session again, I will happily comply… but first-"

"No no no" Max said waggling his finger to stop Philips from continuing. "No going into my feelings and talking this out. I actually NEED to get those memories. Fate of the planet involved. You know how it is"

Philips raised a single sceptical eyebrow. "Actually I don't, though I consider my work important for those I serve."

"Well lucky you Doc. You get to, in a tiny way, be involved in a plot that has the fate of the planet in the balance" Max said, raising his arms as if Philips had won an award.

"That may well be Max, but I still think if we are to have a sudden session, you should at least tell me why you-"

Philips was cut off as Max walked over to him and said, with pleading in his voice. "Ok, I'm begging now. Really begging, no jokes. I really need you to one, take me at my word and just let me use the TV to continue with that dream… and two, never tell anyone I actually begged for something. I have a reputation"

Philips sighed. "Ok" He said with a gentle voice as he walked around his counter and over to his desk, where Max remembered the TV was stored "We can go ahead with the hypnosis."

Philips leaned down, grabbing the portable screen and placing it on a stool in front of the couch.

Max, happy he was finally able to dictate how things went in his session with Philips, was about to launch himself right into the couch, but was stopped by Philips

"There is still a problem with us continuing with the hypnosis, Max"

"Oh for the love of- seriously?! What is it? What redundant task or ****ing quest do I need to do to just get a-"

"You need to relax" Philip said, breaking into Max's tirade.

"… Come again?"

"You are too emotionally stressed to be properly susceptible to the hypnosis."

"What?" Max said, a forced and rather worrying looked grin springing up to try prove his point "I'm not stressed out. Don't be silly… you're silly"

"Max, your whole body language is telling me, clearly, you are stretched thin. You're shaking hands, the twitches you've made since you got into my office, everything. If you want to have the best chance at succeeding, I would recommend calming down."

"…Ok…. OK, I can do that. I can do that…" Max said, making each statement almost sound a question.

Philips didn't look convinced. "I don't know if your work has been getting more stressful or you believe these sessions are affecting you, but my honest opinion Max, would be to just get a good night sleep. You look haggard"

"I could do that. Or I could get some of that wonderful caffeine into me? That sounds like a plan, right"

"Caffeine does not exactly induce calm. Fatigue and stress are two different things" Philips countered

"Ok. Fine. Caffeine out the window. But you know what? Nicotine sounds like the perfect alternative." Max said, suddenly aware of just how much he needed a cigarette.

"Max. As I have asked before, please do not smoke in my apartment" Philip said, all humour dropping his voice.

"Fine then. I'll just light one or two on your balcony. Won't be long" Max said, desperate for a quick solution.

For the first time Max could remember since meeting him, Philips looked something between anxious and… angry? It wasn't an expression Max really thought belonged on the jovial Doctor. But now…

 _Must really hate smokers_ , Max thought as he walked over to the double doors to the balcony.

"Max, if you insist on smoker, please take it outside!" Philips shouted. He actually shouted, Max thought as he turned in surprise, hand just on the door knob.

"Um… I am going to do it outside"

"Yes, but…. But not in my property. I don't want cigarette buds on-"

"I'll just flick the ash and the bud on random street pedestrians, so don't worry" Max said, honestly still a little shocked to see Philips turn in personality so harshly.

"But, no!"

That was all Max heard. All he heard as he turned back to the double doors, put his hand on the handle and watched in mild surprise as he hand passed through it, followed by the door, where upon his now unbalanced body followed after it.

Taking a step forward on the grab, Max felt a horrible shock pass through him as his foot went straight through the floor and he followed with it. He had just enough time to see the door be replaced with the dark city outside as he twisted violently and made a grab for something. He didn't care what it was, as long as it was real and solid.

He had just enough time to grab with his flailing right hand for a piece of something that felt like wood and stop his descent.

"What the hell!?" Mas shouted as his now swinging body was shifting so much that he could see the outside world of New York City followed by a dilapidated apartment as he fazed back and forth through the wall. The wall of the floor below Doctor Philip's office.

"Um… what's going on. And why do I have a horrible sense of Deja vu?" Max said, getting over his initial shock and already climbing up through one floor back into the clean and welcoming view of Philips apartment. Max could even see his own body pass through the immaterial floor as he climbed up.

Max got up and out and walked back, if now tentatively, onto what he hoped to be a normal solid walking surface.

That experience of falling and seeing his body pass through what was obviously supposed to be solid… and then it came to him.

"A Mental Web. That's what Yog-Soggoth called it. Why am I in a Mental Web?" Max asked, still too shocked to actually process what had just happened. He looked up expecting Philips to look just as shocked at all this, but instead he looked… resigned?

He was leaning against his desk, now giving Max an angry glare.

"Months of planning. Of preparation and rehearsal. All that effect up in smokes… because of a nicotine addiction." Philips spoke not in his usual calm, soft voice but something more refined and condescending.

"Um, Doc?" Max asked, shock finally giving way to good old detective suspicion.

"I would like to try and describing in it some way as ironic. But really it's just bad luck and good old stupidity as always."

"… who are you?" Max said simply. As he spoke, he noticed the floor, the balcony, everything around him infact start to bubble and distort. Everything was fading away, as it had done in back in the warehouse when the pit appeared. Only this one was much bigger.

Max watched as, in one sudden wave, everything caught up in the illusion disappeared. He could see in a spreading circle around him all the clean polished wood flooring turned warped and moss ridden. In fact everything was like it now. All the beige walls and the paintings littered around the room transformed into water worn and ripped wall paper and stained plaster.

It looked like the entire apartment, once the illusion had fully disappeared, had aged a few decades. A few decades containing much abuse. The only pieces of furniture inside the entire room were the stools Max had sat next to the now none existent kitchen unit, the couch, which looked like some hobo with incredibly poor hygiene problems had slept on, and the desk, which looked just as worn and run down as everything else in the apartment.

The desk which the glaring Doctor Philips was leaning against casually.

"You have no idea of the effort it took to create the place, over the ruins of this pig sty. The precision required to make this all real… and as is no surprise, only takes one idiotic move by you to destroy."

"… Ok, I've no idea why you decided to screw with me or what you did to me while I was here... Kinswell" Max said, though hardly feeling confident in his guess. Admittedly Kinswell was the only person he knew who knew how to make these god damned Mental Webs things, but something about the way Philips spoke sounded horribly familiar.

"You are truly a pathetic excuse for a detective Max" Philips said coldly.

 _….Oh No… Not him…. God, not him,_ Max thought as a resigned dread fell over him

As if to answer the sudden realisation, Philips transformed, changing from the kindly bearded human with the receding hairline. The casual shirt and jeans melted away to be replaced with a smart suit and tie. The human features and body started to shift and shrink. The ginger hair was transformed into white fur surrounding his now shorter body… a shorted body now sporting a pair of large, pointed ears.

With a patronising grin Max remembered clearly from their first meeting, his super ego, The Narrator, or simply as he called himself at the end, Walter, stood there, staring darkly at Max.

"Surprise"


	30. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"…This… this is…" Max tried to say but failed, unable to form the words. He was still stunned as he stared around at the mouldy ruins of what was once the office space of his onetime psychiatrist Doctor Philips. Max turned back to his mental alter ego. "I've only just met you… and really, despite what you said at our first meeting, I still haven't got one ****ing clue on who or what you really are but… this, what you did here… this is sick."

Max felt like he wanted to puke. He generally wasn't a very sharing person with his feelings. Not because he kept them all behind closed doors, hidden and suppressed, but usually because he didn't feel anything other than a general giddiness at the chaos that poured in and around Sam and Max's usually day to day experiences. When the universe felt compelled to throw all sorts of random encounters at the former Freelance Duo, Max found the need for deep introspection a lesser requirement to making sure his gun was fully loaded at all times.

But since Sam's death, Max hadn't been able to do anything with the bottled up pain and resentment he felt build up day by day. It just wasn't in his nature to 'share' with people and just let it all out. But here, in what was once a welcoming and warm office, Max actually let down his usual reticence and just let himself talk, openly and without embarrassment. Something about the room and the guy had just let Max feel like he could let down his defences… and now it turned out it was all a game. A joke, played on him by his own mind.

As all this flashed through Max's thoughts, Walter, still looking somewhat annoyed, started looking around the room.

"It is a shame that a Mental Web cannot be remade once discovered. Even if you now know it is an illusion, the décor was certainly more welcoming" He said, in a sneering tone.

Max, tempted to cut out the urge to get into a venomous argument and just leave, decided to hold off. He could just storm out, but that would leave Walter still inside his head and able, at some later date, muck around with his life again.

"I am pretty sure when we first met you said something about you being the 'Good Guy'. Call me crazy, but-"

"You're crazy" Walter cut in easily, giving a weak smile.

Max didn't look amused as he replied, in a deadpan voice. "Funny. So… why all this? Thought you would just **** with me for the fun of it?"

Walter just shrugged. "Hardly. Pranking you would not justify the effort I put into all this." It was then an odd look spread over his face as he added, hesitantly. "…would you believe I did this to help you?"

Max seemed to take this comment seriously before replying simply. "Hell no."

Walter didn't look surprised. "Was worth a try I suppose"

Max, with a sarcastic smile said "Well, let's go through my mental checklist on all the **** that's piled up on me, just in these last three days. One) My car gets nearly totalled after being thrown around by a Blue Alien Koala Mutant thing. Two) My gun ACTUALLY gets totalled after a different Alien Mutant thing crushes like a pastry. Three) I lose track of the main culprit to both of my active cases I have… hmm"

Max paused, seeming to muse to himself as he rubbed his chin until giving a fake smile of realisation. "… Oh, I nearly forgot, I happen to have another personality in my head who clearly despises me who can, as it turns out, **** with my mind, meaning anything or anyone I see or meet at any time in the future could just turn out to be you screwing with me… fantastic. Really I know saying 'how can things get any worse?' is a statement the universe loves hearing and answering with sadistic glee, but I don't care. I honestly cannot see how things could be worse for me, right now."

Walter seemed to think on this before saying "You could have a city sized ship crash into you and, by extension, your planet at sub light speeds."

Max just stood though, not appearing to have heard his answer, staring off into space. It wasn't until a long silenced descended upon the pair that Max asked, in a completely drained voice. "…Why? Why did you…" He didn't even finish, just spread his arms, indicating the ruined apartment and Walter himself.

Walter sighed and seemed to lean back against the ruins of the desk, despite obviously not even being there. "It wasn't a complete lie, what I said earlier about trying to help you"

Red hot angered flashed in Max's eyes, but before he could throw a retort, Walter said quickly. "I helped you, but not through therapy. That was just a ploy. An excuse. I created the room, the hallway, the image and personality of the doctor, even the grandfather clock that annoyed you, based on your own memories and personality."

Max looked around the room and then paused, obviously trying to remember the room and the doctor. "I don't remember-"

"The room was a lightly modified version of one you visited many years ago, belonging to a mob boss. You mentioned to Sam that you found the place relaxing, whilst you were slamming the owners head against their work desk repeatable"

"Oh yeah" Max said, very nearly smiling at the long faded memory. "… and Philips?"

"An extra who appeared in Ally McBeal"

"… sorry, what?" Max said, voice flat and tone to sound like he had honest misheard what Walter had just said.

"Appeared in a single episode of Ally McBeal. You said his voice was dreamy. I remember because you said it, whilst sitting alone with a tub of bubble-gum ice-cream. Remember? You used to watch that series religiously, when you knew that Sam was out."

Max gave an embarrassed cough and looked again around the mould ridden room, hoping no one else was around before muttering "I was going through a phase"

As if feeling things had gone off topic, Walter asked a simple question to the now distracted Max.

"Do you want me out of your mind, Max?"

Max, taken off guard, looked shocked for a few seconds before saying "Um, let me think… yes? Yes I would quite like you out of my head… whatever you are"

Walter nodded before continue. "Good. Something we can both agree on… Max. I have been inside your mind, looking out at the mess of a life you have lead, for too many years to count. And with the abilities I have" Walter said, also point around at the recently fake room they were standing in "And their limitations, I have tried nonstop, to make some sort of difference with you. I've tried to help you, using my powers to aid you in your odd career choice, change your personality from something not quite so monstrous with subliminal messages that you just ignore, to finally just planning to kill you and save any future victims from encountering you… none have worked." Walter said, age old exasperation in his voice.

"Nothing worked. And after my last plan to take you down, even going so far as to using the ancient Toys of Power, failed to even get off the ground… you know what? I'm done. I'm done trying to make a difference in your life Max… so I want out."

Max was ready to throw back a comment on what right this suit wearing lago-look-alike had to judge him, but the last comment made him stumble.

"… Did you say out? As in, out of my…" Max said, finishing by poking his temple.

Walter just nodded.

"… and your plan to get out of my head was to become my therapist and to… nope. I've got nothing. I have no idea how either 'fixing me' or screwing me up further, gets you a ticket out of my body"

"Oh, as I said, the therapy was just a distraction. Something I made up as an excuse to pass on the real messages I wanted you to know" Walter said evenly

"Urm, what messages?"

"Messages to help you with your cases of course. To help you track down Kinswell"

Max still looked lost. Before he could ask the obvious question though, Walter just answered it ahead of time.

"Every session you had with me was to help you through each stage of your case. From going back to the warehouse to find the mental web, which I sensed when you first entered the building. To forwarding you to Yog-Soggoth…."

"You getting me to come up with the prison psychic theory I threw at the Galactic President…" Max said in realisation.

"Well, you came up with that. All I did was try to get you to stop fixating on Cocky. I already knew who was doing all this. The second he arrived on Earth, I could recognise the psychic signature." Walter finished.

"You… You knew all this with Kinswell?" Max asked, half in disbelief and half in accusation.

"Whilst you were stumbling from one failed case to the next, I was following his movements. Using your own powers, I sensed him kidnapping Jumba, stealing the parts. By the time you were visiting the warehouse, I already had my own plan in mind."

"Well aren't you oh so clever." Max mocked, feeling annoyed the answer to both his main cases was already sitting there in his own head.

"I knew what his plan is Max… and I know where he is now" Kinswell said, making the statement sound like an offer.

This got Max's attention. "You know where he is? In that giant ship of his?"

Walter nodded, smiling. "Yes. I was planning on slipping the information into our sessions today but since that ploy is dead, I'll just spell it out for you… a deal"

"… I'm listening." Max said

"I tell you were he is. Give you his exact location in the solar system where you can chase him… and in return, you get me a body"

"… Come again?" Max asked, feeling he had missed a part of the conversation.

"He is growing mutated Lagomorph bodies in his ship. Empty bodies that have no personality already in them, taking up any space. You get me near one of those bodies, perform a quick psychic procedure that I can step you through… and you never have to worry about me again"

Max though about this. He slowly scratched his chin in contemplation whilst Walter waited for his answer.

"You did all this to get out of my head? Why"

Walter gave a quick sneer. "Why does a rat try to escape a sinking ship."

Max scowled at this before continuing. "And all the stuff we went through, all that stuff with me, in that school, meeting that Sergeant… all that was made up?"

"Oh no Max. All that came right from your own memories. Memories you still have locked away"

"… What are you" Max finally asked. "Are you really some psychosis my freaky mind created?

Straightening up and stepping up to Max, Walter asked "You really want to know?"

"Yeah. For all I know this is some great big elaborate lie, but I don't care. I want to hear some answer from you"

Walter mused for a moment before giving Max was looked like a very malicious grin. "Ok. Why don't we continue with what you originally wanted" He said, snapping his fingers.

In a flash of light, the same portable TV screen Max had looked into during his earlier session with Doctor Philip popped into existence, floating in mid-air.

"You really want to know who I am? And what your brother psychic, Kinswell said? Well, it's all there" He said, pointing to the screen.

Max looked from Walter to the screen and back. "You want to hypnotise me again? You think I'll let you?"

"If I could kill you by doing so, I would have just done it last time. I didn't lie Max. Your memories are all right there in that chaotic mine field you call a mind. And if you want them…" Walter made a casual gesture to the TV.

"… they are all right there… so, what's your choice?"


	31. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Blinding yellow sun. Bright blue sky. Green trees as far as the eye could see. If Max didn't know any better, he could imagine he was still on B'eel, in some remote jungle somewhere in the southern hemisphere, only a few hundred miles away from where he used to live and go to school… But he did know better. Not due to any in-depth knowledge of alien agriculture or astronomy or any other typical tells more educated Lagomorphs might use.

No, he knew because one particular grim looking office told him as much when he awoke from some tiny sleep unit aboard a now long gone space ship. A ship which Max was now watching go off into the upper atmosphere. He watched the thing disappear into the clouds, leaning on a metal railing on the edge on the landing platform he had just been left stranded on.

He still didn't know how he got to this planet… or moon. All he remembered was being asked to take a drink of something when he was in the Sergeant's car and then…

"… They drugged me. They flarging drugged me!" Max shouted in anger.

"Standard procedure" came the familiar measured tone he recognised belonging to Sergeant Collins. Max turned away from the railing and looked at the Sergeant incredulously.

"What? To drug me? I didn't agree to-" Max began before he was cut off by Collins.

"-It's honestly irrelevant Max. It's just an order from up above to keep this location as secret as possible, even from those who we drop off, like you, to this planet. You are not to know where you are in the Galaxy… except you will, as part of your new educational scheme, have to learn how to read star charts and patterns. So I am not allowed to tell you what planet you are currently on because it is an S grade Military secret… an S grade secret which you can break simply by looking up into the sky at night…"

The Sergeant gave a microscopic smile that Max barely noticed before he walked up to him and leaned on the metal rail, looking out at the distant jungles as Max did. Max mirrored him and just stared aimlessly out into the endless landscape of fields, hoping the Sergeant would keep talking.

Though he didn't want to admit it, Max was honestly terrified. He was suddenly alone on an alien world. He didn't really know why he was here and the thought of maybe getting home, despite being sold off, seemed an impossibility now.

For what seemed like an age, Sergeant Collins finally broke the silence. "You are on a planet called Half World. It holds a large number of different furry bi-pedal species, none of which we have any contact with. You will probably be here a number of years, learning. You will have both you standard education and you psionic training taught from day one."

Collins gave Max a quick look and added "Don't let one take precedent over the other. Even if you have your gift under your complete control by the time you are finished here. It means nothing to those you will need to answer to if you standard grades are poor. The army doesn't like taking in idiots, Max."

Max gulped and nodded slowly.

The Sergeant looked like he was about to continue when someone from the other side of the platform called out his name.

"Sergeant Collins, sir. You and Maxwell are expected in the main courtyard. Doctor Ellis is waiting for you" came the distinct bellow of a military garbed Lagomorph.

"Looks like you will be getting started sooner than I expected. Follow me boy" Collins said briskly, marching across the metal path towards the main base.

Max followed, letting himself look over the monolith that lay in front of him. One giant building, sheer white, lay on its own in this wild jungle. The structure had only a single tiny landing pad just in front of it before a giant fence could be seen surrounding the entire structure. The platform Max and Sergeant Collins had landed on was elevated, letting Max look down at the sea of trees below. It looked like the only entrance to the main facility was the lone walk way suspended at least 100 meters in the air. Max felt like he was walking into a cage.

"First lesson Max. Wear this at all times" Sergeant Collins said, handing his a black bracelet. "You will only take it off when explicitly told so"

Max looked down at the item but put it on wordlessly. The no nonsense tone in Collins' voice made Max figure he should just obey for now.

As soon as the bracelet touched his skin and was fastened around his wrist an odd sensation spread around his body… no. It was more like there was a sudden lack of sensation. Like the background static you constantly hear from your faulty headphones, giving off that odd buzz you are simply used to after so long hearing it, until you replace them and finally hear things clearly. Something Max couldn't put his finger on just seemed to vanish.

"There probably are not enough people around you for you to tell, but I'll save you the time. That bracelet stops your power. Completely. Whilst you wear that your passive mind reading is blocked."

Collins kept walking but stopped as he noticed Max was no longer following. He looked back and saw a look of complete shock plastered on Max's face.

"…. What did you just say?" Max asked, needing desperately to confirm what he heard.

"The device blocks all your abilities Max. Including those you have no control over. No mind reading."

Max still looked like a dear in the headlights. His problem. The problem with his mind reading since… well, it had been a part of him since as far as he could remember. Possibly even birth. It was something that had coloured and warped every experience he had ever had with anyone. It had moulded his personality, into the isolated antisocial loner that he was. To suddenly find out there was an off button for it…

Max barely noticed Collins walked up next to him and gently guide him forward. He only snapped back into reality when another Lagomorph stood in front of him. Max looked up, again in shock as he saw the smiling rabbit look down at him and realised completely that he couldn't read his mind. He was just a blank wall to Max. He suddenly felt like he was blind, in one sense of the word.

"So you are Maxwell, correct?" Asked the elderly Lagomorph. He stood nearly as tall as Collins, wearing a white coat and glasses.

"Um... Max. Yes" Max replied in a murmur as he looked up at the doctor. Despite being overwhelmed with the location and the news his powers were no longer active, something about the doctor instantly struck Max as odd. He couldn't quite focus on.

"Very good. My name is Doctor Ellis. Let's be on our way" He said in a cheery voice as he walked inside the main building, Max and Collins following behind.

"I don't know how much dear Collins has told you, but I can give you an idea on how your first day will go. Firstly, this is not a school. There are no years or classes like you are aware of. As we find and bring in gifted individuals like yourself at any age at any time, we do not find group education reliable. Instead this will be taken care of by a private teaching AI you will have active in your room. You will have sections of the day where you will have to follow the guidance of your AI as he establishes you current level of knowledge and builds you a new curriculum on each subject."

Before Max could ask any question, such "weren't AI teachers frowned under by Lagomorphs", Ellis just continued on, cutting Max off.

"When I say education Max, I mean the subjects you would be expected to learn at school. As for your psionic powers, those will be tested shortly, for us to get a general estimate on your… let's say, mental muscle, and there after you will be put on a training course with other students. Your education and training are two completely separate sections of your, soon to be, daily life but both will require your full attention. If your AI or your trainers report any hint of laziness in either area… well, in school they can give you detention. Here, you are in a military base. More will be expected of you. Understand?"

It was only after hearing his voice and seeing him speak for a number of seconds that Max finally was able to put his finger on what bothered him about the Doctor. It was his smile. It was, without a doubt, the most fake looking expression he had ever seen on anyone. It looked like the sort of expression the Doctor had practised in a mirror. Maybe he had trouble dealing with teens and kids? "Er… yes. Yes Doct-" Max began, though at the first tone that suggested he might have a question, Doctor Ellis just talked right over him.

"Good lad. I know this might be hard on you. It's hard on all those we bring here. All who have to handle that first day. But you'll get used to all this. It will all become routine. And you will be around people who share your same gift Max. Those who can empathise with the problems you have faced."

Max just nodded, keeping up a quick pace between the Doctor and Collins. It wasn't long after going from one corridor to another that the three found themselves in a lab of some kind. Inside were two female Lagomorph Doctors, both of which seemed to be waiting for them.

"Max, this won't take long. Please take the chair in the middle of the room and sit still. Just consider this like a normal trip to the Dentist."

"… I don't like visiting the dentist" Max said timidly as he sat in the central chair as one Doctor stood next to him and started taping tiny wires to the side of his head.

"Good, good" Doctor Ellis said distractively as he nodded to the other female Doctor. She gave a quick nod back as she wordless handing him a computer tablet and walked over to Max. In her other hand she held what could loosely be described as a hat. Loosely because most hats didn't look to be made of 6 inch thick plastic with metal discs and wires littering the surface.

"What's that?" Max said as the thing was placed and strapped onto his head.

"It won't hurt" the Doctor answered kindly.

"Not what I asked but also good to know" Max said as the final strap was placed.

"The device will read your passive psionic powers that your brain naturally produces. Your psychic powers, Max, are not some unknown gift. We have been studying those who share you mutation Max and we know the exact process which enables you to produce your powers. There is a gland in your brain" Ellis said, walking in front of Max and tapping the back of his head. "Located back here, that secretes a chemical which gets absorbed and, you could say, supercharges parts of your brain, unlocking the hidden potential of the mind. This chemical cannot be synthesize and the amount of this chemical your gland can produce directly determines how powerful you are. Now just sit there whilst the machine takes a reading."

Max sat there, trying to stay still. He had the odd feeling that they were playing some sort of joke on him, everything in the room just standing around him and all focused directly on him, wearing this gigantic novelty helmet.

"Do I need to take off my bracelet?" Max asked

"Oh no. The machine can work with the bracelet on" The doctor said simply, eyes glued to his tablet.

Half expecting a Ding noise to pop up when he was done, Doctor Ellis just looked down at his tablet display and smiled.

"And we are done" He said smiling.

"That's all?" Max said as one of the doctors helped him out of the helmet and wires.

"That is... Ah" Doctor Ellis said fake smile replaced with a suddenly look of concern.

"What is it? Did I do something wrong?" Max said, suddenly worried.

"No, nothing lad. Sergeant, could I have a word with you?" Doctor Ellis said, pointing to Collins who wordlessly followed him outside.

Max stared hopelessly around the lab, still seated in his chair, feeling more and more uneasy. Suddenly getting a medical test and getting your examiner to react the way Doctor Ellis did, did not bode well. Thankfully Max only had to wait a couple minutes before the two walked back into the office, Ellis still giving that same, faking looking smile that never seemed to reach his eyes and Collins now looking…

 _…was that anger on his face?_ Max thought

"Max. We have some news on your tests" Doctor Ellis said.

"What is it?" Max asked, looking to Collins for some moral support. The Sergeant though didn't seem to want to catch Max's eye.

"Your scores where…. Well, they are not good. They are relatively low compared with most we bring through here"

Max's heart sunk. Suddenly, his thoughts on being trapped in this metal island on this alien planet, of not being able to leave and being forced to work nonstop for some invisible arm of the military. All such thoughts did a complete 180°, turning into a deep desire to not get kicked out. Not now he suddenly faced the possibility of being dropped due to his scores, whatever they were.

"What… " Max gulped. "What does that mean?"

"Well Max instead of joining the majority of the students on the middle to upper levels of the facility, you will be taken to the lower section. Do not get your hopes down. The powers of such individuals such as yourselves are not leagues apart usually. But some need brute force training to properly unlock their potential. Think of it as muscle building before being trained in martial combat. You need the appropriate build before you are able to go through the standard training, I believe Sergeant? That is standard military policy. Get the men into shape, then actually start training them to be solders."

The Sergeant just nodded, again, he head downcast.

Max felt retched. He had only just met the guy but he felt like he had let the Sergeant down.

"So I can stay?" Max asked again, feeling he needed to be sure.

"Yes. You will still go through the same education we had planned, only your training will be more strenuous to start off with. But if you work hard, I am sure you will make the cut" He said, still giving that same blank smile.

"Jane" Ellis said, turning to one of the doctors in the room. "Please take Max down to level 0"

 _That sounds foreboding_ , Max thought as he was silently led away from the examination room and towards an elevator. He had just enough time to see that same look of… Max couldn't even tell what that look was on Collins face. Max guessed, bitterly, he was just disappointed in spending all his time finding and getting Max here, only to find he was in the near-reject pile.

With thoughts of his own inadequacy popping back and forth around Max's head, the two entered the lift. To his surprise, the Nurse had to enter a special code into the upper console just to get the option for level 0.

 _Even more foreboding…_

"I believe at this hour your other training partners will be in session. I will take you to them first so we can get a room assigned to you. Please follow me" came the clipped tone of the doctor, herding Max forward at a brisk pace.

"Um…" Max mumbled, trying to get the doctor's attention. "Does the entire base look like this?"

"Like what?" She asked, not even bothering to look down at Max.

"Well. Like this. White blank corridors, no windows. This place looks… well…"

"Neat" The Doctor tried to add.

 _Was going to go with plain and sterile_ , Max thought to himself. _If my room is like this, I'm going to desperately need to get some metal band posters or something._

Just as the abrupt and rather odd thought of redecorating bounced around Max's head, he was lead into what looked like a gym. The room was gigantic, filled with various bits of equipment littering the floor around… he guessed around his new training buddies.

The group of Lagomorphs huddled together looked exactly what Max imagined would belong in the bottom grade class if he were still at school. All wearing the same neat white training uniform, made obviously to make them all look as professional and efficient as possible, for students at least, and as Max could see, failing miserably. The slouched postures and disinterested glares reminded Max of the kids he remembered from school who would hang out near the bins who always seemed to aim to make their schools shirts, ties and jackets look as messy as possible, like they were making some statement or something. Max could never figure out what statement they wanted to make. Admittedly though, after reading their minds, he found out they didn't know either.

"Oh good. Fresh meat" Came the booming voice from behind the huddled Lagomorphs. As they parted Max saw the most scar ridden Lagomorph he had ever seen. His face was a pockmark of burnt skin, laser blast holes and good old fashioned knife scars. He even seemed to be missing both his ears, only leaving tiny stubs in their place. Max couldn't see any other part of his body under his dark green uniform, but he imagined it didn't get any better.

"So, what's this your name, little one?" Came the same bellow, at the same ear shattering volume, which Max thought was unnecessary since the guy had walked right next to him.

"Um- Max" Max blurted out, almost on instinct, suddenly wishing for the solitary company of the scary Doctor lady over this new guy.

"Hello Max" The scarred Lagomorph said, fake cheer emanating from his voice. "It's good to have you here, in our little family. But you've already made a mistake. Not good at all for first impressions, young man. Do you know what it is?" He said, wagging his finger.

Max stared at the finger, almost in fear and then to the group of Lagomorphs behind the fingers owner. They all seemed to be rolling their eyes, obviously used to this speech.

Remembering he had been asked a question Max replied timidly. "Not saying my last-"

"SIR!" Came a roar that knocked Max off his feet. "You are not in school anymore lad. I am not your mum or dad. I am not your teacher. I'm your command office. Sergeant Tackton. And if you speak to me, I want every sentence ending with…?"

Max, guessing his queue said "Sir…, sir" adding one more to be sure.

"That's good lab. You have sense. I like people with sense" He said, still loud and voice dripping with sarcasm.

Taking Max by the shoulder he effectively threw him over to the others standing around. "Line up. I know you've all heard this before but considering all your recent performances, another reminder is probably needed."

Despite their slouched and interested expressions, Max was surprised to see how fast the group moved, all moving into a neat line, with Max fumbling to the end.

"Now then, my little fluffy lumps of joy. You know why you are hear. All I imagine save our new friend Max here" Said Sergeant Tackton, again singling Max out.

Max guessed this was all normal. He had seen enough war movies to spot the harsh drill Sergeant character. But Max had lived as quite a life as he could possibly manage considering his "gifts", aiming to stay unnoticed in both school and even in his family. He wasn't used to any of this sort of attention, at least without his powers to help him get out of it. He figured he should just stay as quite as possible and figure things out later when he was alone, as he normally did.

Despite that though… it still seemed so strange to be around a group of people and not to know what they were all thinking. It felt… good actually. And not just because of the noise driving him made.

"But we might as well go over the status quo. You are all in the unique position of being incredibly special and at the same time, nearly useless. You all have a unique gift that your military desperately needs. But you all have such a meagre grasp on this skill that you are not deemed worth training with the majority of your fellow psychic cadets up above" The Sergeant said, pointing up at what was obviously the levels in the base which housed everyone else. Everyone who had passed the test.

"You are the minority. You are the bottom of the barrel cadets whom are on the very edge of being useful to us or just being a drain on us all. And it is up to you to get yourself out of here"

The Sergeant walked over to a table that Max had skimmed over when he first entered. On it seemed to be a collection of paper weights.

"Up above your fellow cadets are learning all the intricacies of your craft. All the techniques which will make them indispensable out there in the field. You all however are not worth teaching these abilities to, as none of you I imagine have the mental muscle to make use of them. So here's your one and only job whilst in my presence."

He pointed down at the weights, his finger moving from the smallest to the biggest "When you can move one of these from their positions to your hand, you move on to the next. That's it. There are other things we will go through but this is your goal. To lift this" His finger lingering on the last weight in a row, a hexagonal lump of black metal that seemed to be spaced noticeable apart from the others.

"So Max. Why not show us your mental fortitude. You might just be able to get out of here today. Go on."

Max groaned. He forgot from the movies how the Drill Sergeant's role was usually to be as nasty as possible to the new guy.

"Um, I don't know how to move anything with my mind…" Max said, then just remembered his earlier lesson adding in a quick shout "Sir!"

"Well, tell you what. Because I'm such a nice guy, I'll-" The Sergeant began, before a sudden wave of chuckles erupted from the rest of the trainers.

A cough from the Sergeant silenced the abrupt laughter letting him continue. "Anyway, I'm going to let you use your hands, lad. Go on now"

Max, already guessing this was some sort of trick walked up to the table and down at the various discs of metal. None of them had weight readings on them but the first looked like he could flick it off with his finger.

Taking as good a grip as he could, he went for the second to last weight and made a grab for it. After fumbling and losing his grip a couple times, he had the horrible feeling that these things were actually part of the table. Even when he leant his entire weight against it, trying instead to push it along the table it still didn't move. He quickly repeated this down the line until he reached the very first one, and even that he could only nudge forward by a fingernail.

Looking back at the blank expressions of the group, honestly expecting them to be laughing or poking fun in some way, Max looked back at the weights. They could be super heavy or glued to the table but, considering the last one he was able to make move, even if only be a tiny amount… wordlessly he put his hand in his pockets and fumbled around until he found what he was looking for. He took out his front door keys he still had on him, despite probably never needing them again. Taking off one of the metal rings he casually threw it over to the first weight.

With a sudden pinging sound the metal ring bounced off the table, flew above the weight for an instant before shooting down like a bullet, snapping on the metal weight.

"Well done lad. If you can't use your head for moving things, at least you have good old common sense as a backup." The Sergeant said, walking up to Max and flipping a discreet switch on the table. He casually picked up the metal ring, no longer attached to the weight and handing it back to Max.

"These weights are just normal lumps of metal, even the biggest you could easily picked and throw by hand if you want. But each one is above a magnet. Each one fed different levels of power to stimulate different magnetic fields. The smallest one, with the magnet one, is probably twice as heavy as a large Lagomorph"

"… that heavy, just to start…" Max said, mounting harrow at what he was expected to do.

"Yes lad. We don't want soldiers who can lift people and throw rocks lad. We have technology that can stimulate that, and that stuff is far cheaper and easier to make. No, we need soldiers who can crush tanks and pluck fighter ships out of the sky and smash them together into balls of glorious psionic fire. Soldiers who can even look deep inside the hulls of enemy titan ships and destabilise their engine cores a dozen miles away."

"… that's what everyone up there can do.. um, Sir?" Max asked, horror at imagining the monsters they had up there.

"Fraid so lad, but if you… wait. Ah, Jane" Tackton said, dragging his attention from Max to the female doctor. Max hadn't even noticed her leaving but it seemed she had gone whilst the Sergeant was harassing with and come back... Come back with another Lagomorph kid it seemed.

"Max, back in line. And the rest of you. I know you've all seen this, but it needs repeating" Sergeant Tackton shouted.

Max shot back to the end of the line of cadets. All of whom suddenly looked uncomfortable for some reason.

 _What's going on?_ Max thought, looking back to the doctor and his new Sergeant standing side by side around another kid. A Lagomorph wearing the same white cadet uniform the rest of the trainees were wearing. Apart from the cloths, the kid looked normal. Roughly the same age as Max, same height, same…

 _… is he drooling?_

"I believe most of you know Tim. He was the one we used last time for this lecture, and as you know, he's not going anywhere" The Sergeant began, before looking directly at Max.

"Max, if you are here, it means you, like everyone else brought to this facility, both here and up in the higher floors, have used your powers. Probably without intent which lead to your discovery. What was your story?"

"I…" Max began, now starting to get a little uneasy looking at this Tim guy. He hadn't noticed it before but the guy seemed to have a totally blank expression, his eyes not focused on anyone, despite the Sergeant talking about it right next to him. "… I read the minds of the people around me. All the time. Couldn't shut it off." he said simply.

The Sergeant nodded. "Same story as Jacob. Isn't that right boy?"

Jacob, the Lagomorph next to Max nodded. He stood head and shoulders above Max, nearly towering over him. To Max that wasn't all too new an experience. He was short, even for his age and from what he gathered of the rest of the guys and girls in the line, he was definitely going to be the pipsqueak of the group, Max knew.

To his surprise Jacob put a reassuring hand on Max's shoulder just as the Sergeant continued on with his presentation, giving Max a friendly smile and wink.

Max nodded back, still finding it odd to interact with people, especially teens around his age, without getting bombarded with all their inner most thoughts being screamed at him. It was a little frightening in one respect. He didn't know if Jacob was just being nice or if it was just an act so the others would think better of him, or if he did feel some sympathy for Max or…

 _Alright, stop over thinking this… you'll get used to not knowing… everyone else does._

"As I was saying" The Sergeant continued "All of you were brought because your powers manifested in some passive way you couldn't control. Reading the minds of those around you, changing the minds of those around you, object moving for unexplained reasons when you happened to be passing, or just waking up one day and finding you're sleeping on the ceiling."

The Sergeant placed a hand gently on Tim's shoulder. The kid didn't even register the touch from what Max could see.

"But when you actually start taking control of your powers, there are dangers. This is why you have your bracelets on. They will stop you from using your power until you are in a safe environment, with me and other professionals observing and guiding you. You may use your powers here and in your rooms, when the door is locked and you are alone. But you must not use your powers anywhere else and especially on anyONE else. Entering the mind of someone intentionally. Drilling in and trying to read or change something is not only morally unacceptably but can easily lead to an incident. An incident similar to what happened to Tim here"

Max once again noticed none of the cadets wanted to look directly at Tim. All had their eyes downcast, though none seemed to be ignoring the lesson. The horror on what had happened to Tim was starting to dawn on Max.

"Tim here, along with a few others, are those who ignored these rules. And they paid the price. The exact condition is called Psionic Rupture. It is when your actions cause a backlash with you powers triggering your gland, the part of your brain that makes you all special little snow lakes… to rupture. The resultant damage, both physically as a part of your brain lightly explodes, and the mentally as the raw psionic wave pulses through your mind will cause you to go into a start similar to brain death. You will become vegetables, needing new full day care for the rest of your lives. And it will be for the rest of your lives. The LAW says we cannot kill our own kind, even in cases like these. If you have a pulse, you are alive, even if there is nothing left of you inside."

The Sergeant let go of the unresponsive Tim and walked right up to Max, staring him right in the eye. "Do you understand the full magnitude of what I have said Max? If you make a mistake. Play around with your powers, you are not the only one to suffer. You will not just die but leave behind a corpse only able to stand up on its own two feet, in constant need of attention. And there will be no one to blame but yourself… do you understand me boy?"

The last part came out as a near whisper, though all of it sunk right into Max as he looked over at Tim's two lifeless eyes. Max could only nod.

"Good. Now you will have time to get to know your team, but for the moment I suggest you get settled into your own room and start an initial session with your teaching AI. As soon as it knows your educational needs, you can get started on both your schooling and your training… now get going soldier"

"Yes sir" Max said, once again following Doctor Jane out of the huge room. Every step he took as he walked away, his eyes remained glued on Tim's. The brain dead Lagomorph who was now used as a demonstration to all other Lagomorphs who joined the program. A deep wish to never have to go through this demonstration again flashed through Max's mind as he left the room and was back in the never ending white sterile corridors of the base.

"… how many others are there?" Max asked, breaking the silence between himself and Doctor Jane.

"Others?" Jane asked

"Others like Tim?"

"Oh there are around a dozen I believe. All have a floor to themselves near the medical centre" Jane said distractedly, not really giving Max her full attention.

"Oh" Was all he said.

"And here we are" Jane said spotting one plain white door with the numbers 264 above it. "This is your room. To enter press your hand over the panel here"

Max looked at the panel she indicated and followed he instructions. As he touched his hand to the panel there was a low hum as the door snapped open.

"It is registered to your palm print. Only you can open this door… out of the other cadets that is. All members of staff can open any of your doors, so please keep this in mind when you are busy… entertaining yourself in private"

Max wondered what she meant before realisation bubbled to the surface along with a light blush.

"OK, got it" Was all he could say to hide his embarrassment as the two entered his room. He was surprised. For someone who had had to share a bed room for most of his life with half a dozen other brothers had left Max with a deep appreciation for privacy, for when he got it. Now he stood in what was not that large a room, all things said… but a room that belonged to entirely him. The idea sent a shiver of excitement down his spine.

The room was not spacious but had all Max really needed. A computer station atop a small desk with chair. A table in the middle and a bed, with a linked bathroom. All of it was just a sterile looking as the rest of the base, but Max could hopefully change that, as long as no one minded.

"I will leave you to get used to your AI teacher… Walter?" Jane called out.

There was a flicker in the air as suddenly a Lagomorph, a direct mirror image of Max himself, appeared in the centre of the room. In a voice though that was not Max's he said "Yes Doctor Jane?"

"This is your new student. Max. Meet your new teacher, Walter"

There was a moment of silence as Max looked at his mirror imagine… well, near mirror image. The AI had chosen to mirror Max's body, but instead of the casual shirt and shorts he was wearing, the AI had adorned himself in a smart looking suit and tie. He even, for some reason had a red rose popping out of his front pocket.

"Hello Max" Came the friendly voice for the AI, Walter. "I will be your new tutor, or teacher, whichever you prefer"

"Um… hey… Sorry but, I'm not used to handling Ai's" Max said, half aiming the comment to Walter and half to Doctor Jane who was already walking out the door.

"That is fine. I am not used to handling you yet, Max. So we both have things to learn"

"So… what happens now?" Max said, looking around the room again.

"Now" Walter said, disappearing from the centre of the room and flicking right in front of Max, causing him to stumble over in surprise. "Now… we start your lesson"


	32. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

One Year Later

"Come on!" "You can beat them!" "Crush them" Came the cries from around the circle of other shouting Lagomorphs. All of them shouting and screaming their own cries of support or opposition to the two small groups of Lagomorphs sitting in the centre, playing the game.

The game had no formal name and was simple. Each team had 3 half cylinders, like a hockey puck cut in half. The team members could not touch the pucks with their bodies, only move them with their minds. The team could control individual half pucks each or put their combined mental force behind individual ones. The pucks flat side were incredibly strong, each made to be slammed flat face against other pucks in reverse tugs of war. However the curved side of the puck was made to be brittle, so a good hit from the flat side to the curved side or another puck should shatter. The aim of the game was either to destroy the enemy pucks or just push them off the opponent's side of the table. A simple game of telepathic wrestling aimed to build team work and a competitive nature

That was the story given by the Sergeant whenever this exercise was called for, but in actual practise, it was only there for one reason…

… betting.

The trainees would find any excuse to bring up a game just to bet some credit chips when there were bored of the normal lessons. In today's game were teams A and B. A comprised of some of the middle grade guys in the trainee pecking order. Caleb, a stocky Lagomorph with brown spots on his cheeks was the acting leader, who had made the initial challenge. On his left and right where the two brothers in the trainee group, Alex and Evan. Both brothers and Caleb had formed a lose alliance, all to try and take down and try and bankrupt the leader of team B.

Team B comprised of two Lagomorphs sitting behind the leader, Zoey and Ryan, both of whom were relatively new to the cadets, only being brought in 3 months earlier and showing the lowest scores in the group, as people expected. And finally there was the leader of the group, who had been challenged to this game, told he had to use the lowest ranked members of the cadets and had the offered the sum of 500 credits to his team if he won and only a loss of 300 credits if he lost.

The 300 to 500 credit difference was irrelevant to Max, the grinning central member of Team B, who didn't have anywhere near that amount of credits stored up, and everyone knew it. If he lost he would have to pay dearly to make up the difference in payment. This didn't bother Max. Or at least it didn't appear to bother Max who was happily chatting to Zoey whilst the 3 half pucks in the table were caught in a massive brute force pushing match with each half puck shoving as much as the controller could manage against its counterpart.

Caleb, Alex and Evan all had their heads down, sweat dripping down their brows as they each pushed with all their remaining strength against their enemies' half puck. The fight earlier had started out with some semblance of strategy, with Caleb trying to act as team tank whilst Alex and Evan's tried to get behind Team B's defences and take out their enemies pucks, but no matter how fast they moved, Team B's pieces all defended themselves with near perfect coordination. All attempts to surround any piece, even when putting one of theirs at risk always ended poorly and brought the fight back to square one.

Except Caleb's team seemed to be running out of juice whilst Max and his partners where all sitting back and chatting, barely putting any attention on the game. Some assumed this was just a strategy by Max to unhinge the other team into making a mistake, to win the game. Most however knew what Max was doing wasn't some intricate mind game or advanced strategy. It was just Max doing what he always did. Pi**ing people off.

Over the year Max had been at the facility, meeting new people and not having to rely or be overwhelmed by his mind reading powers, he had changed dramatically. At first acting aloof and isolated, not used to socialising for others his own age, time had worn away his shy demeanour and let him grow into the person he was today… a jack***.

It wasn't always the case and Max did have a circle of friends he liked to hang out with, like any normal teenager. But he also found he had a talent that when faced with someone he found annoying, he could get right under their skin with the slightest effort. At certain times he could be downright intolerable if he worked hard enough.

Like he was doing now. Max was hardly paying attention to Zoey's answers to the random questions he was throwing to her, just as long as he dragged her into a conversation. A very obvious conversation that even Team A couldn't stop to hear.

"So anyway, the movie is set on this moon where a group of Nova Core explorers find these eggs and-" Max said conversationally.

"Could you stop (grunt) flapping your mouth for one second (grunt) and pay attention to the game, Mini Max?" Said Caleb, breathing hard as he tried to gain some purchase on his piece but failed.

Max on his part just sighed. "One second, Zoey." He turned dramatically to Caleb, still looking relaxed and casual as he had done since starting the game. "One, my attention is up for grabs Caleb. You just aren't working hard enough to take it. Two" Max said, holding each finger out, waggling them right in Caleb's nose "… Mini Max. Really? Is that really the latest short joke you could make? That's just sad man. Really"

"Ain't… (grunt) sad if it's true, little man" Caleb said, eyes glaring at Max as he saw every piece of the board slowly start being pushed to their edge of the table.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm tiny, though I personally prefer the term compact. But you know what helps bring on those much needed growth spurts? Some big, B grade meals to tie me over for the next month. That should get my bones to growing. And as soon as I win this, you and your pals will be helping me achieve my greatness… or just making me fat. I'm satisfied either way,"

"You've got a big mouth…" came the strained voice of Caleb as he saw all three of his team's pieces teetering on the edge of the table.

"All the better to insult you with" Max said, showing he usual toothy grin as he watched all three of his enemies teams pieces fall off the table. The game was over, finally.

"Dammit!" cursed Caleb to the combined cheers and boos of the crowd as he fell to the ground, panting. As Caleb lay down, trying to catch his breath, a flickering white and black glow began to appear all around him like tiny flames. No one in the class seemed surprised at this. They had all seen Psionic Venting before, after a game like this.

"Are. The cries of defeat from mine enemies." Said Max "It is a sweet song to thine ears. A song titled 'You owe me 500 credits'"

"Very clever" Snapped Caleb, still ignoring the white and black flames spanning his body as he took out a stack of plastic cards tied together and threw them straight at Max, who just caught them with his mental powers and dropped them casually into his open hand.

"Pleasure doing business with you…no wait. Not business. What's it called when you utterly defeat someone?"

"You're not cute Max" Caleb said bitterly, finally standing up

"Oh please, I'm adorable" Max said, flicking through and counting the credits.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Alex asked.

"And what would that be?" Max chirped back.

"The bet and your team mates, man?" This comment came from one of the girls in the crowd, all of whom, now that the celebrations and booing where over, all looked at Max with some level of irritation. You didn't just claim all the winnings for yourself. Even if one member of the team did more work than the others. Even spilt. Those were the rules.

"Ah, you're right. Zoey, Ryan?" Max said, pocketing the credits he got from Caleb and holding his hands out to either side.

With a forlorn sigh, both Zoey and Ryan reluctantly took out a small stack of credits each and put them in Max's outstretched hands.

"Um… what's going on" Came the voice of the same girl from the crowd, who were all looking on in surprise.

"Show them" Max said, now counting his new stack of credits and putting them together with Caleb's stack.

Zoey and Ryan both held up their right hands and pulled up their sleeves. The sleeves that had been hiding a pair of active psychic block bracelets. Realisation went through the crowd as all understood exactly what Max had done.

"No way…" Caleb said, despair spreading slowly over his face.

"Yep. I bet you guys 500 credits we could win. I bet my team mates 300 credits between them that I didn't need them to be here to win. I lose, I take on the whole debt and owe these two 300." Max said, fanning himself with the flexy plastic credits.

"Very impressive Max" came the booming voice of the cadets Sergeant Tackton. The second his voice passed over the cadets, ever single member, even Max, stopped all revelry and shot into line.

Max, taking his usual spot next to Jacob, stood to attention, realising at the last moment he hadn't pocketed the credits.

"First things first. Caleb, turn off the damn night light" Boomed the Sergeant, glaring at Caleb who still appeared to be on fire, if only lightly.

"Yes sir!" Caleb shouted back before grunting slightly as he stemmed the flow of his wasted powers. After a couple seconds, the glow around him dissipated.

"Good. I have told you all a thousand times. Psionic Venting is a sign of a weak mind. If you pull on your powers but don't aim them anywhere, the power will just escape through your skin, wasted for everyone. Even if the thing you are concentrating on, such as your game puck, is off the table, if you no longer need to push on it, stem the flow. Every drop of mental vigour vented is a drop not being used on training. Understood?!" He bellowed.

As one the whole line of cadets roared back "Yes Sir!"

"Excellent. And it is good to see you all practising. Competitions are a good way to push yourselves. But it seems our team's resident joker has taking things one step further."

Max looked straight ahead as the Sergeant walked in front of him "So lad. Decided to show off and take on these fine labs single handed. I must say I am mighty impressed. To be the king of the **** heap is certainly a title worthy of basking in, lad. Mighty fine job." He said, with fake cheer and sarcasm plain for everyone to hear.

It was the same thing as usual. Any statement of cockiness or self-adulation and the Sergeant would be there in a second and knock that person down to the floor. Always reminding them their position in the facility, at the bottom of the barrel. Not even really cadets. Just groups of near useless Lagomorph psychics trying to make the cut. That wasn't to say the Sergeant was cruel. He just seemed to keep an eye out for when he consider people were, as he called it, 'getting too full of yourselves'.

It was this reason, Max found out a couple weeks after first joining, why everyone had that same slumped manner and expression when in the gym. It was always a reminder that above them there was a much larger group of gifted Lagomorphs already learning how to be real soldiers. That if they ever reached the very top of the class and moved on, they would suddenly be at the very bottom of the pecking order up above.

It was also the reason why, despite the sunken expressions Max had seen, every Level Zero cadet worked insanely hard. To Max's knowledge, no member of the Zeros (as they called themselves) was what he would consider a slacker. All worked ever second when in the gym, day in day out, even guys like Caleb, Alex and Evan worked their guts out. It wasn't something that even drew in attention. Everyone did it. Partly because of the Sergeant and partly because no one wanted to be at the bottom of the bottom group.

The Sergeant silently looked down at Max's hand and took the stack of credits. "Betting are we?"

 _Oh come on, we all bet on every game! Don't pretend you don't know that_. Max thought, though didn't dare say that to Tackton's face.

"Just a friendly wager, sir!" Max shouted back.

The Sergeant looked from Max back to the credits. "Friendly wagers seem to pay more then I remember. But good for you sport. A profitable day indeed"

 _Oh he's going to screw me over. I know he is…_

"But I believe the rules on betting are very specific." The Sergeant continued.

"Don't get caught, sir?" Max asked, causing a quick gasp to go through the cadets.

"Quite right lad." The Sergeant said, surprising every cadet in the room, even Max, who was sure he was about to get disciplined for the comment. "You want to play the odds, at least show a drop of tact when doing so."

The Sergeant backed away from Max and faced the cadets as a whole. "But don't be sad lad. Judging from the stack of credits, your efforts today just paid for everyone here to get Grade B meals for 3 days straight"

A cheer rose up along with patronising thankyous for Max, who looked down at the floor in depression.

"You got off lightly max" Jacob said, giving Max a friendly nudge. "And you still embarrassed the hell out of Caleb"

"But… pizzas for a whole month man… it would have been glorious" Max whispered forlornly.

"Then be happy you avoided severe constipation and stop moping Max" Jacob said.

Max sighed and took in the fake praise from his trainee buddies with as much dignity as he could manage. Jacob, who had only grown taller since Max had joined, towered above him as usual. Max on the odd moment of reflection did find their friendship an odd one. Yes, when they first met Jacob had been the one to help Max out, getting used to everything and helping him adjust and after swapping some stories the two had with growing up with their powers, Max had found someone he could empathise with.

But despite all that, the two were as different as it was possible to be in their position. Apart from the two of them being at the top of the class, Jacob was known as one of the more charismatic guys in the group, making friends easily, exceptionally hard to hate. And Max, well… as of 3 months ago, Max found out people had been using his name as a noun when describing something insufferable or annoying. When he heard someone in the cafeteria saying "Fluffy One's Tail, this food is so Max", he had gone straight to Jacob and said with joy in his voice "It finally happened!"

But in defiance of all that, Jacob and Max had formed a strong friendship over the year.

"Alright guys and gals, all of you back to your room. This session is over" The Sergeant bellowed before leaving the room.

Max just sighed and made his way back to his room, Jacob keeping pace next to him.

"Ok, so your plans for stuffing your face are out the window. Doesn't really matter though" Jacob said evenly.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter? How does a month of pizza not matter? And to answer that rhetorical question, it does matter" Max said, trying and failing to keep the whiny pitch from his voice.

"To answer your rhetorical question seriously, we both know why. Those credits only work here. The Sergeant said they don't offer credit meal upgrades on the upper floors… and be both know you aren't going to be around here for a month…"

Silence descended between the two as they walked down the corridor. It was only when Max was sure no one else was about he asked. "What about you? Think you're close to lifting the last one?"

Jacob nodded. "The added weight after each one seems consitant. And when I had a go at it last time, I figured it's the same with the final one… yeah. I think I'm about ready, just need to rest one more day and get a full tank ready. And you?"

Max also nodded, not bothering to hide his grin. "Yeah. Pretty sure I'm good to go… just building myself up to it."

"Dude, we spar and even play the game against one another all the time. We both know you can do it, for certain. You've got more mental muscle then me."

"Yeah… maybe, but…" Max floundered, trying to think up an excuse.

"What is it?" Jacob asked, curious at the sudden hesitation in Max's voice. After a few seconds, enlightenment dawned on him.

"Wait, Max…Oh Fluffy Ones Tail… you're not waiting for me, are you" he said with a laugh.

"No" Max said, in a terrible excuse for a lie.

"You sappy bas***d" Jacob said laughing. "You're waiting for me to advance before you take the test? Dude, I'm flattered"

Max gave him a half-hearted punch to the shoulder. "Not like that man. It's just… well, down here, even if we are in waste dump for psychics, I'm kind of happy. I'm at the top of the pecking order, I know exactly what buttons to push to rile up the other guys. But up there… I dunno. Feels like things will only get more serious"

Max let out a sigh before finishing "It was all fun when I was aiming for this, you know, moving up the board, getting to the last stone but… well the idea of doing all that work and suddenly ending up at the bottom again just seems depressing.

Max suddenly found himself in a headlock as Jacob said, "Dude, being a wuss does not suit you. And remember what the Sergeant said? When we go up to the rest of the cadets and leave the Zeros, the trainers will just act like we are fresh recruits brought in from the outside. We won't be at the bottom. In fact we will be a little ahead. Remember what we've learned to do down here? Mental Webs, Daemon Mind, Third sight, good old Telekinesis? And that's not counting the stuff we know in theory. We will probably seem pretty ahead for new guys"

"Yeah, I guess" Max said, not sounding convinced.

"Come on. Don't you want to finish all this and get out there in the field? Do our bit for our people?"

"Oh for the love of…. dude, of all your character flaws, which there are many, being a full blown patriot tops the list" Max said irritably.

"Come on man. We have every advantage to get out there and move up the ranks. Sergeant, Captain, Major… Fluffy One's ears, could you imagine becoming a member of the 13? Some power house psychic commando sounds perfect for the likes of those guys" Jacob said, obviously more commenting on his own future plans then on Max's potential ones.

"Ok, don't know if I haven't mentioned this before-" Max began

"Think I do, but go on" Jacob cut in

"… but I'm not all star-struck over the guys who effectively bought me from my parents, threw me on a distant planet and locked me up in a basement for a year, telling me to buff up to become worth the investment." Max said, knowing he had told Jacob this on a good number of occasions.

"Dude, that's just your teenage hormones telling you to hate authority. Say what you will but I know my life has improved since getting here so I am all too happy step up, work hard and get out of here" Jacob said, before turning to Max and grabbing him by the ear.

"Hey, watch it!" Max said, wincing.

"Tomorrow is the weekly time slot we all get a chance at the weights. I'm going to be there, on that last one and getting out of here as soon as it drops into my hand. And I expect it to be in yours right after me. Got it?"

"Alight, just let go of me, man" Max said, trying to pry has precious ear from the evil clutches of his friend.

"Great. So rest up. Want you in top form for tomorrow man." Jacob said suddenly running down one of the hallways, probably to get away before Max could back out of his coerced commitment.

"… dammit" Max mumbled as he watched his friend go. After a couple seconds he turned and walked through the door to his room. As soon as the door closed behind him and locked, the band around his wrist ticking, indicating the restrictor was off.

"Hello Max. Profitable day at the Gym?" Came the melodious voice of Walter, Max's AI teacher. He flickered into life just in front of Max as soon he took a couple steps into the bed room. His appearance since a year ago had barely changed. He still took on the look of Max, if not looking a little smarter in his immaculate suit, yet still speaking with a deep and rich adult voice he seemed to be fond of using. Max had asked him not too long ago if he could change it and Walter had said he could, but had no wish to do so. Max assumed he just liked sounding refined.

"Nope. Sarge enacted communism on us, sharing the wealth around." Max said sullenly. Walter, whom Max had already told about the plans to rob Caleb, his team and Max's own team earlier that day, nodded.

"How wonderful for your cadet mates. I'm sure they will be thinking of you whilst they are munching down on their individual assignments of junk food" Walter replied evenly.

"Yes. I've brought joy to all the Zeros. So, a complete disaster." Max said, bitterly.

"Very Good. Did you at least get some of the work done, Max?" Walker asked.

"Let me check" Max said tiredly before staring blankly straight ahead for a few moments before looking back to Walker. "Yeah. Daemon's done"

"Excellent. Get a shower and we shall go through a short and brutal test to make sure it all stuck"

"Oh wonderful. The examination cherry on the top of cake that has been this sucky day so far" Max whined, taking off his clothes and heading to the bath room.

"Be grateful for the Daemon, young man. It does the hard part for you" Walter chided.

"Technically it's still me doing the hard part!" Max shouted from within the active shower.

"Technically you're acting more whiny than usual, but that won't change the existence of the test that will be waiting for you when you're done, Max" Walter shouted back in a playful and slightly mocking tone.

Max grumbled to himself but didn't continue the argument. For one, Walter always won, not matter how hard Max tried. AI's had infinite patience and resources for any debate. And also because Walter was right. The Daemon did make parts of his education supremely easy, compared to if he had to learn it all like he did in school.

Beyond the gym, where there all trained each day to progress their psychic training, each cadet was allowed to work with their powers when in the confines of their own rooms, the rooms preventing them from reading the minds of anyone outside the surrounding four walls. It also allowed the cadets to learn, in their own time, some psychic lessons the AI Walter was allowed to educate them on, in addition to their normal lessons.

Things like Mental Webb were okay for them to learn, since the ability didn't actually call for them to enter the minds of another cadet. An act which the Zero Level recruits were strictly prohibited on doing. But of all the things Max had learnt since getting here, Daemon Minds were easily the most useful abilities he had been told. Despite what the name implied, it didn't create some demonic monster out of psychic energy. Max had researched that and save getting his hands on the legendary Toys of Power, that wasn't something a psychic could do by themselves, unfortunately.

The word Daemon was not related to the demonic but infact the computing term to describe a background process running on a computer system. A process that would just do what it needed to do without being under the control of the system user. The term had been applied to one of the tricks a psychic could do on themselves to do mental tasks without requiring the user to focus on it.

The ability worked as follows. The gifted mentalist would create an imaginary room in their mind. And in that room they would visualise their daemon. Some cadets did actually imagine a giant horned creature, but it could be anything, alive or inanimate. Just something you could put form to. Max actually changed his depending on the task, from pocket calculator for simple stuff, to imagining his old teacher Mr Henderson, mostly because he liked to idea of his grouchy old educator doing Max's work for him. Then they would be given their tasks and work inside their rooms in the backs of their controller's heads, working on the task.

For reading text books, you could just flip through the book and the have you daemon go through the memories of the pages and work on actually absorbing the knowledge in them into their controllers conscious. And when the task was complete, the daemon would fade away, along with the room.

This made revision on certain topics easier, as you could just have your daemon process some topics you assigned them whilst, in Max's case, head off to the gym and mentally lift weights. The daemon and the mental lifting used different parts of the brain, so the two activities worked perfectly together. The only drawback was the daemon didn't have any of your imagination, so when it went through the topics, it would just run through them in a straight line.

Despite this, Max mused to himself in the shower, the daemons had been a gift from the Fluffy One himself, in letting him catch up with his school work. It wasn't perfect but when being 14 with no real education of any kind behind him, he would take what shortcuts he could.

And so, still grouchy from the won and lost bet and the promise he made to Jacob, Max finished his shower, got redressed and did the new test on pre-century Lagomorph history that Walter had kindly assaulted him with.

"My, my, I haven't seen you go through a test so sullenly for a good few months" Walter said, circling Max as he finished off the test.

"I can be surly, even if I know it won't get any sympathy from you" Max said, answering the last question before putting his pen down.

"I am capable of sympathy Max. But without at least one arm removed and a life threatening illness, you're not getting any of mine" Walter said, looking down at the sheet of paper which disappeared on Max's desk, flashing into light. After a moment Walter added. "You pass"

"How much did I pass by?" Max asked, despite knowing the answer.

"You just passed. Anything you got wrong I will just add to your future text books for you to re-absorb" Walter said.

"It would be nice to know my score" Max said, not much for school, even now with his own personal teacher, but still curious to know what he got right and wrong… mostly if he got perfect or not.

"Not going to happen. But I can give gold stars" Walter said, his voice thick and patronising as dozens of spinning golden star stickers popped around him. One even short forward and seemed to stick to Max's forehead.

Max, not impressed just grunted. "Just bring me dinner and a movie. Something where most of the characters die horribly."

"Not in the rom-com mood then. Fair enough. I will find something suitable for your need for violence. And a pizza is already on its way from the kitchens"

"Might as well enjoy my last night" Max said as he plunged himself on his bead and faced the screen.

 _A horror movie and a meat filled pizza… there are worse ways of saying goodbye to your home for over a year…_


	33. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

The next day arrived and all the cadets stood in line in the main gym, each one waiting for the weekly try outs to begin. There were plenty who made the attempt each week, even if most ended up not progressing. But each member had to try, to see if the next weight they needed to lift was any easier to budge, even if only a little.

And this weeks was no different. As usual all the people who honestly knew they weren't really going to be able to move their weights went first, getting their turns out the way to build up to those who thought they had a real shot at progressing. Those who rested an entire day before to get a full mental tank ready for their attempt.

Beyond those waiting to just get their goes out the way, to get an idea on how close they were to their target, four cadets waited on the side lines, showing they were making a proper attempt. Of those four stood Max's team mate from the day before, Zoey, who was trying to get passed weight number two, another cadet by the name of Janise, who was making her 3rd full attempt at 6, which she had been stuck on for 5 months now and finally Max and Jacob.

It was the last two in the line-up that got people's attention. Everyone knew that both Max and Jacob were both on the last weight, so if even one made it through, someone was leaving the Zeros to move to the official psychic training. For the Zeros, that was a rare event and as such, a big deal. Such a big deal infact that when it happened, another Sergeant from the upper levels was called down to act as second witness with Sergeant Tackton.

As Max was mentally preparing himself, trying to get himself to relax, he looked over to Jacob who looked as confident as ever. Eager even, just to get his turn started. As Max was about to throw over some casual banter to him, if only to get his nerves down, Jacob gave him a small nudge and whispered. "Guess who's acting as the second this week" He said nodding over to the gym entrance.

Max turned and felt a jolt run through him. Sergeant Collins, in the same all body coat and shades he had worn when Max had first met him, walked confidently through the main doors and met up with Sergeant Tackton, whereupon they both shook hands and started to talk off aways from the cadets.

Max, tempted to use his powers to eaves drop, squelched the thought. Not due to any moral concerns, but mostly the fear on getting caught. The last guy who tried that sort of thing on Sergeant Tackton… well, as it turned out, the Sergeant was very good at blurring the lines between punishment and advanced interrogation techniques.

As soon as the two finished their conversation, Sergeant Tackton went off to the handle the first group of cadets trying out the weights, making sure all other members had their bracelets active as to not help the cadet making the attempt. Whilst he was doing this, Sergeant Collins walked over to Max and his group.

"Good morning cadets. All feeling confident?" He said conversationally

"Yes Sir!" The four bellowed back.

"Relax. I'm not your Drill Sergeant. You don't need to address me as sir. Not yet anyway. So, let's get your bracelets checked." He said as he looked down at Janise's offered wrist. He turned the device over and pulled out a tiny pen like device that he waved over the bracelet before nodding and move on to Zoey's. Once he was done with the first two, he turned to Jacob

"Could you follow me please?" He asked as he began walking away.

"We're not just doing the checks here?" Max asked, feeling the need to at least try to start a conversation.

"No Max. For the last test I need to do more stringent tests on the bracelets. Especially when two are going for the last weight in one go" And with that, he walked away, Jacob trailing after him.

Max sighed as he watched Collins stop a distance away and began talking to Jacob whilst looking over his bracelet. He was still a little uncomfortable in regards to Collins after so long. Max had seen him on occasion since he dropped him off down to level zero, usually when a big test for the last weight was being made on the rare occasions that happened, but on the few times he was able to get close and try to strike up a conversation with him, he gave him a one word reply and left before Max could really say or ask anything.

It wasn't that Max thought had anything he wanted to say but… well. Collins had been the one who brought him in, helped me out when he got to the facility and then… then just seemed to give up on him. It gave him the feeling like he was some hugely valuable collectable item you stumble across at the market one day for a bargain but find out later it was just a worthless replica.

Letting the sour thoughts fill him, he watched as Jacob was checked over one more time before being sent back in line and Max was called over to Collins. Wordlessly Max walked over to the Sergeant and held out his hand.

Carefully taking Max's hand and retrieving that pen like scanner, Collins wordlessly get to work looking over Max's bracelet. It only took a dozen seconds to pass before an awkward atmosphere generated between the two. Collins looked like he expected Max to fill in the silence but Max just kept his mouth shut.

After the silence dragged on for a few more seconds and the first test was finished, Collins finally decided to break it. "So Max. One year and you're finally taking the last test"

"Yeah. 'What took me?', right?" Max replied back, trying to keep the sullenness out of his voice.

Collins paused at this, looking up at Max through his shades with another device pressed against his bracelet displaying a set of read outs, all being ignored.

"No Max, it's impressive. I don't believe anyone has gone through all the weights so quickly, not counting the last one" He said, sounding genuinely sincere.

"Yeah. Still a year wasted I could have been top side, like you hoped, right?" Max said, once again trying to and now failing to hide the sullenness.

 _Dammit, could I sound any more like a whiny kid? This guy hardly knows me. Just leave off…,_ Max thought, chiding himself.

Silence once again descended between the two as Collins finished reading the results of the second test and then stopped. Max tried to get a read on the guy but, like with their first meeting, with the shades on and the high collar up on his coat, Max could barely see his face, let alone his expressions.

"There's nothing to be ashamed about having to do this training Max. It was only a temporary situation. Everyone eventually finishes it and-"

Anger like that only a sullen teenager could muster welded up inside of Max at that comment.

 _Screw it. I'm going to say my piece._

"You know. Thanks. That does make me feel better" Max said sarcastically, giving off a fake smile. Noting what appeared to be irritation appear on what was uncovered of Collins face Max added "And I'm being honest. That does help… but know what that would be helped me? Being told that when I first came down here" Max said lately, trying to keep his voice level as to not get the attention from the other cadets. Best only Collins could hear his tantrum whilst he got it out his system.

"Certainly better then 'Oh now. He scored low and is being sent to level zero'" Max said in his best mocking attempt at Collins deep confident voice before melodramatically looking away from Collins. "'Now I'll just shun him like he has psychic leprosy.'"

Max wished then he could see Collins expression. Whether it was apologetic, sneering at Max's childishness or just blank from lack of caring. Just knowing would have been better then Max looking at the garment Collins wore around his face.

After a few seconds Collins said, in a slow deliberate voice "I am sorry Max, but I am not your father" He said, tone suggesting he was trying to admonish him.

"Yeah, I know. My dad is out there somewhere probably still spending your check you paid for me. Still doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be annoyed at the guy who took me from my family and threw me in a dungeon because I wasn't… Urgh" Max stopped himself before groaning. _OK, tantrum done_ , Max thought, feeling the anger vent, only to be replaced with growing embarrassment.

 _… if he ends up thinking I need a fatherly hug or something, I'll just blow my own brain up before the test starts. Easy way out._

But instead of that Collins slowly took out a final device which he began circling around the bracelet and said, in a slow tone. "You know, you were my first collection Max. First and only"

"What?" Max asked, confused at the suddenly topic.

"You were the first gifted individual that was detected that I was sent out to confirm and collect. We usually have others to do that but we were low staffed and I had clearance to do so… and I had never done it before. Finding some troubled child and telling them they aren't crazy or freaks but people we can help. Introducing them to a place they could fit in… that's how the others who did this so often described it…"

Collins fiddled some more with the device before pocketing it and letting go of Max's hand.

"I didn't realise until later on that we don't tell the cadets that we… well… buy them off their parents. We wait until they are older and hopefully more mature. That was my first mistake, though not one I regret."

"You were supposed to lie to me?" Max asked, remembering the strange looks he got from the others when he vaguely mentioned the payoff to his parents. He hadn't spoken about it since, assuming it was a sore subject with everyone.

"Yes, but that is the reason I don't regret it. I don't see the point in lying about something so personal. It's your right to know… but when we both got the news you were going down to level zero… Max?" Collins said, actually taking off his shades and looking Max right in the eye.

"Um… yeah?" Max said, feeling more unsure now than he did earlier.

"You have to believe me. I didn't ignore or shun you when we… when you got the news. It was… well, something I cannot explain… Just please trust me on this."

Max decided he was desperate for an out for this conversation, in case he made a bigger fool of himself.

"Yeah. I believe you… doesn't make any difference anyway. On my way to the big leagues after today… if all goes well" Max said, giving a wobbly chuckle.

Collins just gave a half-hearted nod before putting his glasses on and walked back to the other group. As Max followed him, glad the conversation was over, noticed all the guys from the first group was done. To no one's surprise, no one from the first group passed. Max was just in time infact to see Zoey move forward for her attempt at her weight.

Separating from Collins, Max stood up next to Jacob and looked on as Zoey stood up next to the table, took a few careful breaths and, after getting the nod from Sergeant Tackton, began to concentrate. Slowly, as all noise died down in the gym, Weight Two began to shudder slightly and after a long six seconds of nothing, rose up into the air in one fluid motion. The cadets all cheered in support as the weight dropped neatly into Zoey's outstretched hand. As she put the weight back and walking into the throng of cadets either wanting to hug or just give a celebratory pat on the pack to her, Janice slowly walked forward.

Again, after the noise dropped back down, and the same nod from the Sergeant came, Janice took a few shaky breaths and, with an actual grunt of effort, began to concentrate.

Whereas the first attempt by Zoey happened all at once, Janice's attempt on number six was a slow process. All watched as the sixth weight shuddered, then violently wobbled and eventually started to lift. The rise was a jerky motion, with the hexagonal metal weight shaking from side to side. Slowly as everyone held their breath, the weight was lifted to head height, the height needed to breach the magnets range when suddenly the weight shot upwards like a bullet and lodged into the gym's ceiling. Everyone laugh and cheered as Janice collapsed onto the floor, black and white flames flickering over her body.

Sergeant Tackton went forward and even helped Janice to her feet, congratulating her as she tried to stop the physic energy from leaking. The Sergeant didn't even admonish her for it, gently guiding her to the cadets, two of whom helped Janice get her to stay on her feet whilst she regained her strength.

"Ok lads and lasses. The big moment has arrived. Please, silence everyone. This is both Jacob's and Max's first attempt at the last weight. Remember, there is no shame in failing this. There is always another try out in a weeks time" The Sergeant said, aiming the last comment to both Max and Jacob.

"Yes Sir" They both said back, the default reply.

"Ok Jacob. You're up" The Sergeant said, backing away.

Jacob, with his usual air of confidence as thick as ever, walked forward, to the marked spot Zoey and Janice had been and waited. He didn't have to start lifting when Sergeant Tackton said he did. He only gave him permission to begin. Usually when people tried the last weight, from the few times Max had seen it happen, the guy or girl would take their time, building up their power. No slow starts. Just a full blown assault of mental telekinesis just to get a grip on the thing and to get it off the tables surface.

Max watched, feeling the tension build up like a dam as Jacob just stood there, doing nothing. He just took a deep breath in and then after a couple seconds, let it out. He just repeated that, the only noise in the gym as his breathing got harder and harder, until…

With one long howl, Jacob raised his hand and the last weight lifted into the air, passed the magnetic field and dropped into his hand. It was over within the space of a second. Like with Janice, white and black fire poured off of Jacob as he fell to his hands and knees. The cheer for the first two attempts seemed a polite round of light clapping hands compared with the response that happened then. All the cadets, including Zoey, Janice and Max from where he stood alone, let out a deafening bellow as all whooped and cheered with all their might.

Jacob just stayed on the floor panting as, this time Collins walking up next to him and helping him to his feet. Taking the weight from him and putting it back into position for Max's go, Collins gave Jacob a friendly congratulation and handshake before asking him to stand over to one side.

It took longer this time for the silence to come back, as all eyes were on Max. Gulping down as he felt the pressure on him, he walked over to Jacobs previous position. He was pretty confident on managing this test. Jacob had not been exaggerating when he said Max was the strong of the two. The pair had gone into telekinetic tugs of war before and, as of a few months ago, Max had appeared as the winner more often than not.

Still, deciding to take this seriously, he waited for the Sergeant to confirm he could start and rested. As soon as he knew he could start lifting, he relaxed. There wasn't a time limit as such. You either did it or you didn't. It was pretty obvious if you couldn't do it.

In the stillness of the gym, taking calm and measured breaths, he waited until he felt like he had the right mental purchase and…

…

… nothing.

Max paused and then, after a couple more breaths, tried again to focus on the last weight again and… again, nothing. There was no response at all. No feeling of purchase on the lump of metal, no hint of it moving.

Feeling like he was just letting the pressure get to him, Max once again made another full blown effort, going so far as to lift his hand and pretend like he was trying to lift it with the appendage. The act was the same as making left or right motions to a bowling ball already rolling down the aisle. Useless. But still, trying everything he could think of, Max was eventually stopped when Sergeant Tackton took his outstretched arm and lowered it gently.

"Sorry lad. Doesn't look like you will leaving us today" he said, not unkindly.

"But… but …I" Max began, confusion overtaking him.

"Lad, you've been at it for five solid minutes and it hasn't budged an inch… it's nothing to be ashamed about. Just maybe don't get into a game like you did yesterday the day before you decide to do this, ey? Maybe take it easy next week"

And with those words of wisdom that flowed off Max like water on oil, the young, dejected Lagomorph cadet was led back to the others, all giving him words or encouragement and support. No one wanted to fail the last weight. Not when the end goal was so close. But there was always next week, as most of the cadets said to Max in an effort to reassure him.

Max, feeling lost and empty, looked across to Jacob who stood next to Sergeant Collins, who Max noticed was seeming to make an effort not to looked at him directly in the eyes. Max didn't know why he felt the pang of betrayal appear abruptly, but he couldn't help but feel deceived by the Sergeant and get a horrible sense of Déjà vu. Max turned and looked at Jacob. He seemed sad to not have Max with him, but Max was just able to make out him mouthing the words.

"Don't worry. See you in a week…. Tiny"

Max tried to grin at that. He could at least be happy his friend was getting what he wanted… and he could wait a week. But as he saw Jacob lead away by Sergeant Collins, who wasn't even going to let Jacob say his goodbyes to anyone, he just felt empty.

 _Why didn't it work!_


	34. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

After muttering half-hearted goodbyes to the rest of the cadets, Max made his way back to his room and just flopped into his bed, face first. He hadn't even bothered waiting for the lights to come on or for Walter to flash into existence.

"So… good news I assume?" Came the easy voice of Walter as looked

"shuth uth" Came the muffled reply of Max, mouth full of bed linen, still not bothering to move or even look up at his AI teacher.

"I'll take that as a no then" Walter responded, though not with his usual cynicism. Instead, his holographic form went to one edge of the bed and sat down next to Max, seeming happy to wait for him to respond.

After a long silence descended between the two, Max finally said, barely lifting his head off the bed "I blew it. I couldn't even make it move an inch. Not even a millimetre. Not even a…. some measurement smaller than a millimetre"

"Micrometre?" Walter offered.

"Yeah. That" Max said, bitterly.

"Look Max, it happens. Possibly you were tired after last night's game-" Walter began.

"No!" Max snapped back "You don't get it. I've been tired before, but today… it was weird… I mean, I couldn't even get a grip on it. I got no feedback on it what so ever."

"And how do you explain that? I assume you had some gas in the tank, even if not a full one." Walter asked.

"I don't… but I know I gave it my all. Stood there for 5 minutes just grunting like an idiot in front of everyone." Max said, inwardly remembering the disappointed look on Jacob's face.

"Five minutes with no result. You must have had only wisps coming off you when you started venting, considering how little power you had left" Walter replied.

"Yeah" Max mumbled, thinking back to the test.

"…wait" Max said, a feeling of realisation spreading through him. "… I didn't vent"

"You didn't" Walter asked.

"No. I didn't. I know I didn't. I just got up and just walked away. I didn't stem the flow of my power…"

"So you had nothing left?"

"No… no, I couldn't have… wait a minute" Max said, a thought popping into his head. He pondered for a few seconds before, hesitantly, looking for some random object around the room he could use. Scanning the working table next to his bed, Max spotted a pen.

"That'll do" Max said, leaning up and then focusing on it, trying to project his psychic powers onto and around it and then…

"Ok. Something is wrong" Max said, looking at the immobile object. "I should have enough juice to move a pen. Even if I was empty when I did the test, the time I took getting back should easily be enough to move something like a 4 ounce pen."

Walter nodded and, after a moment looking at nothing said. "I just scanned your bracelet. It is active… that should not be possible when inside your room"

Max slapped his forehead as the answer came to him. "It's busted. Something Collins must have done before hand must have broken it. That's why I didn't vent anything when I was done and why I didn't feel any purchase when I was trying to move the weight… dammit, my try-out was sabotaged."

"Sabotage suggests intent, Max" Walter corrected

"Ok, fine. But I was cheated. I should be up there right, with Jacob!" Max said, anger and some level of relief flooding him.

"I have the record of your device not responding. I can easily supply this to Sergeant Tackton and I am sure he will let you have another go tomorrow."

"Screw that" Max said, getting out of bed and walking to the door. "Lock down isn't until 9:00, I have two hours to find the Sergeant or someone and get this sorted."

"Max, you haven't done your studies." Walter admonished.

"And I cannot do my studies until I get my bracelet sorted. Can't check-up on my daemon or anything whilst this is broken." He said, shaking his wrist for emphasis

Walter sighed and waved Max off. "Very well, though I do remind you that you could just study like a normal person and not waste your time running around the halls of the facility."

"Comment noted and ignored" Max replied with fake cheer as he walked through his doorway and out into the main floor.

As the door closed behind him and Max looked down both ends of the hall, noting both ended with a T-junction, Max realised that he barely knew anything about Floor Zero. Granted that he had never been banned from exploring the lower levels of the facility, but with the constant daily training and his school work and what little time he had spare for socialising with Jacob and the other trainees he liked to spend time with… well, he just had never felt compelled to wander around.

There was the gym, the trainee quarters and then… well, just more hallways. Hallways with endless locked doors that Max didn't have access to enter. And all the doors were blank so there was no indication on what else was going on down there.

 _Ok. Let's just wander around and try to find some staff. They might be able to tell me were the Sergeant's room is._

With the flimsy plan in his head, Max started to head away from the hallways he knew and had walked down over the past year and into the sections of the base he had avoided. It took surprisingly few turns to make the transition.

1 hour later

 _Seriously the person who designed this place was either terminally dull or just demented_ , Max thought irritably as he went down another 90 degree end to a walkway and right into another blank white hallway. Again. No one was around, there were no signs on any of the doors and he was starting to get worried about getting lost. Not only had he made no effort for keeping track of his journey, only randomly picking lefts and right, but at one step in his journey he passed a point he couldn't return.

Quite simply Max had found an open doorways leading to a corridor that had been decorated in a colour a slightly lighter tone of grey and had nearly fainted with joy. It was still grey but it was different. That seemed infinitely more welcoming then the dull grey hallways he had adapted to over his years stay here. So he walked through the doorway leading to this new light grey area and after taking only three steps, noticed the door behind him close. He had tried to go re-open the door and go back into the area he was sure he was supposed to be in but nothing had worked. He was stuck in this new section and had to keep going, if only to find someone to let him out.

That had been an 30 minutes ago.

 _I'm tempted to start knocking on doors at this rate. Though this is technically a military base… ah, ****, I am so going to get a bo***cking from Sergeant when this is all over. Screw doing the test now. I'll be lucky if I'm allowed to take it for a year._

Max kept wondering what he could do until he heard voices coming down from one of the hallways he was walking.

"Any estimate on his final levels?" Came a deep feminine voice from the right corridor to Max.

"Before we put him under, just above 6700" Came the voice of a male speak, seeming to be walking with the other.

Max, happy that he had found some intelligent life after his expedition into the unknowns of the lower floors, was suddenly apprehensive. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was sure of that now. However, if he could follow them…

 _Oh this is already sounding like a really stupid idea._ Max thought _. What's worse then get a report of wandering into a secure section of the base? How about replacing the word wandering with SNEAKING._

Max wondered what he could do, too timid to call out to the voices but upon hearing them walking away, not willing to avoid the only form of life he had spotted in an hour of aimless walking.

"Between 6000 and 7000. That exceeds the average, if only by a little." Max heard the female voice reply as he got to the end of the corridor and looked down at the two talking.

Max could clearly see two lagomorphs, both dressed up in the same white lab coats he remembered the doctors wearing when they had tested him on the first day.

"Yes, and at that level we might be able to test out the new gun models. They wanted at least 6500+ for the latest model they brought in"

Max watched as the pair turned a corner and walked away from view. Annoyed and again not wanting to lose or confront his new best friends, Max followed quietly behind the pair.

"Is he under already?" The female asked.

"He is. Now he and the rest of us are simply waiting on you two to begin" came another voice that made Max pause.

As the first pair Max had been following replied "Yes doctor" in unison, Max was trying desperately to put a face to the third voice.

 _I know that guy…_

More out of curiosity now than to avoid getting into trouble, Max walked quietly down the corridor and had just enough time to see the pair walk into a doorway in the middle of the corridor.

 _Ah ****… alright, all or nothing,_ Max thought as he walked down the corridor and tried to look through the door which thankfully hadn't closed. Expecting an office of some kind, or maybe a laboratory considering the lab coats the pair had worn, Max had not expected what he stumbled across.

The room looked like some form of operating theatre. Inside were cabinets and draws on one end, machinery of some kind at the other, and in the middle of the room, dominating Max's attention was a theatre bed of some kind. It looking like a long examination table, with a slightly raised head rest, with some machinery below it that looked like it allowed the bed to be adjusted. This all looked normal for an operating table.

The thing that did not look normal was the giant mechanical contraption suspended above it, looming over the bed like some evil villains torture device. It looked like at the front point of the machine there was a laser, Max guessed from the tiny lens, with metal prongs all around the central focal point.

Max had never had surgery of any kind but did guess that machines could now do all the work, with lasers and metal limbs to do the incision and work the operation. It made sense whilst Max thought about it, but the look of the thing still sent a shiver down his spine.

Just as Max realised no one was in the room, he stepped inside. Again, after taking another few steps and hearing the unmistakable sound of an electric sliding door close behind him, Max felt a sinking sense of déjà vu fall on him.

Spinning around, Max saw what his ears had suggested. The door was closed… and locked.

 _Oh No. NO, NO, NO, AGAIN!? ****ING AGAIN?! Really? Is this place just trying to herd me into the worse possible position before I'm caught?_

Max spun around desperately. Gone were any thoughts of just owning up and admitting to one of the three doctors who left that he got lost and somehow ended up not only in the restricted section of the base they were in but also into this obviously secure medical centre gone. He needed to hide, wait, and escape. The thoughts of cameras recording him right now flashed past Max's mind but after a quick glance around the room, Max found none to give him away.

Whilst looking for cameras, Max was able to spot a corner of the room which was blocked by one of the cabinets.

 _Good enough._

Without worrying about the consequences and just keeping to his new "hide now, escape later" strategy, Max shot behind the cabinet just in time for the three doctors to come back into the room from another doorway. They had all obvious been talking in some connecting office.

 _Ok, best case scenario, they only had a quick one minute chat and are all going their separate ways. No need for them to hang around, possible wonder why the cabinet in the corner is shaking._

This desperate thought was cut short as the two people Max had seen enter the room were now decked out in full scrubs.

 _Oh ****, are they about to do surgery in here? With me watching?_

 _… Mental note to self, do not throw up whilst these guys have someone's chest cavity open. Probably not a good idea to distract them…_

Max was considering simply turning his back to the pair and whatever they were about to do, content to try and ignore the squishy sounds that might come from the operating table and wait for the whole thing to be over, until he heard the voice from earlier.

"He will be here soon. Get the system ready."

Max frowned, looking back through the gap in the wall to get a look at the owner of the voice.

 _I know I recognise that… wait… wait, him?!_

The realisation flashed through Max's mind as he was finally able to put a face to the voice, and the face, as it seemed, belonged to Doctor Ellis. The doctor who had tested him on the first day he arrived, sending down to the zero level.

Max vaguely remembered the man, even after his one short meeting a year prior. Max did remember the guy had seemed odd, even after his first conversation with the man but after so long, he couldn't quit put his finger on why he had weirded Max out.

Max could tell though that he hadn't changed much over the year. Still seeming to don the same white lab coat Max remembered, guessing now it was his equivalent to a uniform. He had walked calmly into the room, hands behind his back and looming over the two doctors.

"Is all the equipment ready?" He asked, his tone oddly flat and monotone.

"Yes Doctor Ellis. Everything is in order" The male doctor replied sharply.

"Good. Very good work George." He said, Max seeing him lightly pat the other doctor, George on the shoulder. "Let's wait for our patient to arrive then."

 _Ah, that was it_ , Max thought, memories of his first meeting with the doctor coming into sharp focus. It was his smile. He remembered the doctor having what looked to Max to be one of the most fake looking expressions he had ever seen on a fellow Lagomorph. It looked so alien and at contrast with the uncaring look in his eyes and his tone. Even his thanking of the doctor didn't seem to hold a drop of warmth or genuine care in his voice.

From the uncomfortable look on George's face, Max guessed he wasn't the only one to be a little creeped out by Ellis.

"Yes doctor. By the way, based on the levels we read off the last scan, do you believe we will be able to test out the new model sent in?" George asked.

"Hmm?" Doctor Ellis replied distractedly before continuing "Ah, yes. The cannon. I've yet to decide. That model, from what the engineers told me, is a power hungry monster. Despite the estimate we received on 6.5K being the minimum, I would like someone with a bit more power to come along for it. A Bead too small and weak might just break apart and vaporise in that thing, and they are too valuable to gamble like that. Do you agree George?"

Again, Ellis turned that odd expression on the other doctor, who just nodded, not meeting Ellis' eyes.

"Good. Now then – AH. Perfect timing" Ellis said, noting the door open to let in the next visitor.

Max tried desperately not to move and get someone's attention through the gaps in the cabinet, but he did try to shift his position to see the new visitor.

As it turned out, it wasn't one but two people coming in for whatever operation was about to happen. Max got a good look at the two and had to stop himself from calling out loud.

 _Sergeant Collins… Jacob?!_

Max watched, mouth hanging open as he looked on as Sergeant Collins walked into the room, wheeling in a sleeping Jacob, sitting lifelessly in wheelchair.

 _Jacob. What's wrong with Jacob? Why's he here?_ Max thought desperately, suddenly no longer caring about his own problems with punishment for trespassing, but for his friend who seemed to be under medication, knocked out ready for some sort of operation.

Before Max could make out what was happening before his eyes, Sergeant Collins simply wheeled Jacob up, passed Ellis and effortlessly got him out of the wheelchair and onto the table. To add to Max's surprise, he was placed on his chest, not his back.

The doctors then all surrounded Jacob, still appearing for all Max could see completely unconscious, not responding even slightly as the doctors positioned his arms, leg and head into specific gaps and straps on the table.

As they parted Max could see Jacob still lying on his back, head raised up by some adjustable chin mount and his limbs and chest strapped down.

"Check his readings Janis" Ellis called out to the female doctor.

"All show nominal. We can begin" Janis replied back crisply.

"Good…" Ellis said before turning to Collins. "You don't need to stay, Sergeant"

Max was able to get a glance at what could be seen of Collins facial expression. Even with the collar and glasses hiding most of his face, it was still plain to see the troubled look in his few visible features.

"No… no, I do need to stay" He said simply, walking back so not to be in the doctors way but still looking directly at the unconscious Jacob strapped to the table.

"As you wish" Collins replied evenly before turning to a panel near him and pushing a flashing button on the screen.

If Max had had to guess earlier why his friend had been wheeled in, seeming prepped for some sort of operation, he would have floundered for an answer. First guess he just had was that Jacob had gone through a basic physical before moving up to the upper levels, the doctors had found something wrong, and taken him to surgery to deal with whatever this newly discovered problem was.

That had been the first fleeting thought Max had as the doctors spoke and prepped his friend. But something about that theory now seemed off. Everything the doctors said, describing levels and testing of new equipment seemed strange for Max in context with a life threatening surgery. Also everything they did and spoke about seemed practised. Surely any kind of surgery could not be common for a training base not in a combat zone. Yet they spoke and acted as if they had done this exact procedure many times.

 _… and that last comment by Collins…_

Max's thoughts were cut off as his attention was drawn to the giant machine above the operating table stir into motion. The device seemed to unfold itself as all the pincers and prongs extended and unfurled, each one pointing directly at the back of Jacobs head.

In one fluid set of motions, four of the prongs simultaneously positioned and fastened themselves on the back of Jacobs's head, with the central laser hanging above the bed, still aimed directly forward, to a point between the four prongs.

It was then as a deep sense of horror fell on him as Max guessed what was about to happen and for all the effort in the world, he couldn't bring himself to do anything but stare, open mouth at what happened next.

The device, the main machine which had spawned the prongs holding Jacobs head in place began to extend, the main head between the four metal grips elongating until a black lenses was extended only a few inches from Jacob's cranium. Even from his position Max could see a red beam of light shoot out from the centre of the lens and into the back of Jacobs's skull.

In a burst of motion, the beam of red light emanating from the main frame began to circle between the points laid by the four prongs. It only took a few seconds for the laser to have rotated three times before the beam of red light dissipated.

To Max's dread, he saw another claw shaped prong emanate from the machine, lightly press and grip on the section of skull that the red laser had marked and pull.

It was then that Max knew, without a doubt, what he had stumbled upon.

"Brain surgery" He mouthed wordlessly.

He honestly thought he was about to be sick when the section of his friends skull had been cleanly pulled back, hair, skin and skull all in one clean section, revealing the pink matter inside, bare and open to the world. In a moment of selfishness, Max found himself thankful as the machine once again extended out, towards the opening, blocking Max's few from what happened next.

All Max could do was listen to the mechanical sound of the device doing…. Whatever the hell it was doing, to his friend, all the while wondering what he had stumbled upon.

He didn't have long to ponder on the question as the machine, in the same fluid motion it performed the rest of its actions, retracted, pull its prongs back and fire another beam directly in the open space in Jacobs skull.

In a burst of green light, the horrible opening suddenly began to fill and heal.

 _Healing gun_ , Max thought idly as he watched the circular hole close up and fresh hair grown back leaving the area just as it was, as if none of the horrible images Max had burnt into his mind had happened.

 _What did I just see…?_

"Very good work" Ellis said, stepping forward as the machine hanging from the ceiling began to climb back up and out the way of the doctors, who casually walked up to the prone unmoving body of Jacob and began unhooking him from the table.

"Vitals stable" Janis said, checking a table on the side of the table.

"Good. And the Bead?" Ellis asked.

It was George who answered, moving to one of the consoles away from the table and checking some readouts.

"Within our predicted limits. Levels last displayed 6,640. And the extraction was successful. No imperfections detected."

"Excellent. Seal it and hand it to me" Ellis said, turning away from George who approached the main machine above the operating table and looking over to Collins.

"So Sergeant. Everything you expected?" Ellis asked, his voice still plain and without tone. He could have been asking on the state of the weather, despite all that had just occurred.

Collins on his part still looked pained and distracted. It was a while before he answered the doctor's question

"… I know how you handle this, Doctor Ellis. With your…" He said, floundering for the right word.

"Condition?" Offered Ellis.

"Yes. But I honestly don't see how your colleagues do this, over and over."

He seemed to be aiming the comment to the two doctors, both handling the still prone Jacob into his wheelchair. They both did look up at Collins question, but quickly dropped their eyes. What seemed to be akin to shame flashed by both of them before continuing with their work.

"The same way you were able to stand there and let what we did happen" Ellis answered, causing Collins to flinch. "…Professionalism. You know why we do this. The costs vs the rewards."

"We sacrifice our morality…"

"For our survival" countered Ellis before adding. "Well, to increase our chances at survival. As I have told you before, access to the Zero Project is not a reward for your past services, but just another obligation, and you are here because you understand that. None of us are here for any personal gains in scientific curiosity or political gains…"

Wordlessly Ellis held out his hand to George, who silently passed him a glass cylinder, one that Max had seen come sliding out of the machine and into Georges waiting palm.

"We take lives" Ellis said holding up the cylinder, showing the lightly glowing contents within "So we can save even more lives. The mathematics of life in its purest form"

Max, moving slightly to get a better look at the object in the doctor's hands was just able to get a look at its contents. It held inside, suspended between two metal rods, what seemed to be a small glowing blue pearl. The light it cast off was just bright enough to cast am eerie shadow over Collins face.

"The gland whilst it resides in the brain, or bead as we call it after removal, offers us far more in its raw form then in the minds of those who spawned them. At least in regards to the levels of those we have in the Zero ranks."

Collins, who looked over from the doctor and to the glowing orb in his hands, looked back down to Jacob. "And in return for nurturing and developing it, we take it and leave its owner brain dead due to Psionic Rupture."

 _…no_

 _…. no….no, no, no, they're wrong. I didn't just hear that_ , Max thought as the full weight on what had just happened to his friend dawned on him.

 _I didn't just see my friend die. I did not just hide in the corner as they tore Jacob's head apart. That DID NOT JUST HAPPEN!_

Max felt like screaming. He felt like screaming at the top of his lungs, words not even needed. Just every breath of wind he had in his lungs ripped out of him and turned into pure verbal agony. He was looking at his friend, hooked up to the wheel chair, seeming for all the worlds to be sleeping.

 _Only when he wakes, he won't be…. Oh fluffy one_ , Max thought, desperately holding back again the urge to throw up.

Whilst all this occurred, the two doctors just wheeled out what remained of Jacob whilst Collins just stared back at Ellis.

"Having second thoughts?" Ellis asked evenly, putting the cylinder on the table behind him.

"…No. I know why we do this… it isn't right, but it is a necessity."

"So why come here and watch. There have been many others you have just handed over to us and left before the operation began." Ellis asked.

"I just realised something after the trials today. Something I remembered when out in the field. You never ask anyone in your command to do anything you are not willing to do yourself. Saying something is needed but running away from the truth of it is cowardice" Collins said, arms folded as he stared down at the table Jacob had just been in.

"So you came here to punish yourself?" Ellis asked as he stepped up to Collins, ready to leave.

Collins just shook his head. "You wouldn't understand. It's an "emotions" thing."

Ellis just shrugged. "If it's to do with those, I'll take your word on it."

And with that, the two left, leaving the room in darkness. With every light turning off as Ellis switched the light before leaving, the room was left in total blackness, save for the tiny light let off by the cylinder left behind by Ellis.

In the near darkness, the only sound was that of Max, breathing hard. As the seconds ticked by, the breath turned to panting, to heavily quick panting as Max began to hyperventilate. After a few more seconds the panting was subsided by the sound of Max, finally unable to hold it back anymore, throwing up violently in the corner.

He couldn't control himself as his retching turned into choked off cries and whimpers. To Max, everything was abruptly finished. His meeting up with Jacob in the bright world of the upper floors, his chance to finally leave this place gone, as he realised his own clock was ticking down before he would end up on the chair.

 _It's all over… It's over… there's no one I can tell. No one who won't just drag me here…_

Max was lost in the fear just as his eyes finally opened after he felt the retching subside, they spotted the single glowing orb at the back of the room.

Jacob's Gland. What they took out…

In a desperate thought, fuelled by delusion and the sort of childish logic that could only come from someone so afraid and willing to believe there was a way out, Max began to advance on the light.

 _If I get the gland… I can… fix Jacob. It broke him removing it, putting it back should fix him… if I get it and then Jacob, I can… I can…_

All thoughts of what happened afterwards seemed unimportant to Max at this point. All that mattered was the glowing orb. It could save his friend.

A small, practical side of Max, drowned out by the rage, fear and depression was quietly tell him that what he was doing would not work. The damage had almost certainly been done and was not going to get mended, at least not by anything Max could do. He needed to run. Simply run, get out of the base using what he learnt to bash through wall after wall and just leave.

But this thought was squelched by the impossible desire to make everything right. To get his friend back, get back somehow to his daily training… He just needed that cylinder…

"Max?"

Max froze as the lights burst to life around him. Hands still outstretched to the glass container, he turned around and look right into the eyes of Sergeant Collins.

The danger Max was in did not seem to occur to him. The thought of ripping off his bracelet and just letting all hell loose didn't seem an option. He just stood there, hands just about to reach the glowing orb, looking as if he had just been caught getting a snack from the kitchen.

Collins for his part looked just as surprised to see Max, turning from side to side and then walking up to the stunned teenager and taking him by the arm.

"Max. What are you doing here?!" He hissed violently.

"You… Sergeant…" Max said in a shaky voice, turning from Collins to the orb. "…I need to… do…." Max began but just ended up muttering incoherently.

Collins kept his grip on Max, placing his other hand on Max's shoulder and shook him to his senses. "Max. Why are you here? How did you get in here?"

Max, still looking as if he was in shock just said blearily "You killed Jacob… why did you do that to him?"

Collins looked like he had been slapped across the face. "I… Max… it's complicated. You can't…"

Max looked to the now mumbling Sergeant and then, strangely, to his bracelet. "You did it. Messed with my bracelet so I wouldn't… but, why not for Jacob. Why not him as well" Max couldn't help himself. He couldn't stop the tears once again streaming down his face as he begged Collins for some kind of answer to explain all this.

"Sergeant. Is anything the matter in there?"

Collins and Max as one both looked at the open door. The voice belonged to Ellis, thankfully not standing in the doorway and apparently waiting in the hallway.

"Sergeant? We are all waiting. Just grab the Gland and lets be on our way" Ellis called out.

Collins and Max turned from the empty doorway and back to each other.

Sudden hope sprung up for Max. Though he now suspected he couldn't save Jacob, at least for now, he could maybe get away. If Collins was on his side, for whatever reason he had, all he had to do was grab the cylinder and leave without saying a word. Then Max could work off the bracelet and…

But as Max looked up into Collins' eyes, desperate for some sign of hope, he saw only regret… and resolve.

"Please" Max mouthed.

As answer, Collins shout back to Ellis, "Doctor. We have an unwanted visitor"

Max felt the bottom drop out of his stomach as Ellis and the two other doctors walked into the room and looked wide eyed at Max, looking like a wild animal caught in a trap. All looked shocked, except Ellis, who only seemed curious.

"Who is… wait. I remember. This is Max isn't it? The other from the Zero Cadets?"

Collins only nodded, still keeping eye contact with the now shaking Max.

"How did he get in here?!" George asked.

"It doesn't matter…" Ellis said, looking down at Max, who finally stopped darting from one person to the next and looked directly into the dull eyes of the doctor.

"… put him on the table" Ellis said evenly to the two doctors, hardly seeming to notice the now screaming Max struggling violently in Collins arms.


	35. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

"Care to explain this?" Came the monotone of Doctor Ellis.

Looking nonplus at the Doctor and the object he idly bounced up and down in his palm, Sergeant Collins replied evenly "It appears to be a Psychic Suppression Bracelet"

"Yes, Collins. The bracelet we took off of Max after we found him… I'll be honest, that whole episode still has me confused. We are still looking through the bases camera footage and the last details from his personal AI Walter, but what we gather so far is this." Ellis said, dropping the bracelet onto his table and standing from his chair.

Now on his feet, the two stood inside the Doctors office. It was a tiny room, by the doctor's own wishes, containing just enough room for the doctor's own chair, two others for visitors and a desk. Even the desk was oppressively neat, holding only a computer, some neatly piled papers and a small hexagonal weight from the cadets training room, acting as paper weight. Not a single cubic foot of space was wasted, for what space the room had to offer, the room as sparse and lifeless as every other corridor in the base.

"We know from Walter that Max failed his test due to, in his own opinion, a faulty bracelet. And because of this and sheer bad luck I do not want to start calculating, wandered the restricted section of the floor and stumbled open George and Janis and happened upon Jacobs operation…" Ellis said before sighing.

"We very nearly had a security breach on our hands… but before we go through exactly how Max found himself where he was, I need to know why he was, as it turns out, wearing a faulty bracelet. A specific fault which kept the blocking procedures active constantly, ignoring commands from our server control. I believe, from the footage I have gone through that his device was looked at by you before his failed test. So, I will phrase my question differently…"

And now Ellis loomed over the Sergeant asking simply. "Why did you tamper with Max's bracelet…?"

There was silence in the tiny room as Collins and Ellis locked eyes.

"… Max was the first gifted youngster I was asked to bring in" Collins said finally.

"I read the report. No one was available to check on and test him and you, the only other Sergeant with the security clearance, was asked to investigate… and?"

"And that's it. I liked the boy. I felt sympathy for his situation. How his gift had affected his life. I wanted to change that… and then I find out he is going to the zero level… and that his days are already numbered"

Ellis just raised an eyebrow. "You had no problem with the others"

"The others I could distance myself from. But meeting Max and seeing him again… I knew I couldn't spare him, not with all the others getting processed, but I thought I could give him one more week at least…"

"And that's it? Just a small offering?"

"That is it… the whole truth. And knowing it, what do you plan to do?" Collins asked, no fear evident in his voice.

"Oh nothing. I just wanted clarification on your actions and motives. I see no reason for a reprimand or anything more severe" Ellis answered coolly, retaking his seat and indicating Collins to do the same.

"Giving an extra week is hardly a problem for us, for the one moment of sympathy you had to vent off. But when it came down to it, you did hand Max in. I am aware you could have just remained quiet, given me the Bead and left him some chance of escape. If he had gotten the bracelet off… who knows."

Both Collins and Ellis then turned on the third occupant in the room, taking up the remaining seat adjacent to Ellis' desk. Limbs hanging loosely off the edge of the chair, head slumped to one side and a faint trail of drool escaping a corner of his mouth, Max sat there silently staring ahead at nothing.

"Did you bring him here to our meeting to gauge my reaction then?" Collins asked finally

"Oh no. He is here for a very explicit reason, believe me." Ellis said, standing up once more and circling his desk the other way. He carefully sat on the desk's corner and took out a cloth handkerchief. With gentle, slow motions he carefully wiped away the spit from Max's chin and mouth.

"We still need to explain his disappearance to the other cadets" Collins added, not looking at the doctor or the vacant eyed Max.

"We will do what we did with Tim. Wheel him out to the students, tell them he did some late night training or something of that kind and took things too far. One look in his eyes and they will know. Just remember to have their bracelets active as usual."

"I still don't know why you need to block them. Surely as soon as they enter his mind they will see… well…"

"They will see many of the aspects of his mind to be gone" Ellis finished for him, carefully folding the cloth and pocketing it. "But do not mistake the condition caused by Psionic Rupture with typical vegetation. He is still listening to every word we say, recording every image his eyes take in. His memories are still very much intact. There is just nothing there to comprehend this stream of data… usually that is"

"Usually?" Collins asked.

"Yes. From all our past subjects, the removal of the gland caused what appears to be permanent damage. There were no signs of recovery from any of the patients despite any stimuli we provide. And that is what we expected going into these operations, as you know"

Collins just nodded. "Yes. You told me what to expect on my first day, and I believe there were no victims at that point?"

"Victims?" Ellis inquired.

"Would you prefer unwilling volunteers" Collins answered back bitterly.

"I will assume that is a joke" Ellis said uncomprehendingly. "In any case, it appears we have an exception"

"Pardon?" Collins asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Max. We did some tests last night, only three days since the operations… and we read actively in sections of the brain which should be dormant. We did a scan this morning and guess what we found?"

"Just tell me" Collins replied tiredly.

"His Gland has grown back" Ellis said simply.

"…You're joking"

"You know I am incapable of jokes Collins. The scans were conclusive. His gland is back. It is… empty though" Ellis said, sounding almost awkward.

"…What? What do you mean, empty?" Collins said, looking from Ellis back to Max, obviously looking for some sign of life. Max for his part just kept looking ahead, unresponsive.

"We call it a gland because from our limited vocabulary, that is what it is. It is considered an organ as it was grown by the body and is synthesizes the substance which the brain absorbs and transforms into psionic energy." Ellis lectured, turning back to Collins as he took Max's limb shoulder in one hand to steady him.

"But its structure is like nothing we can imagine. It secretes a liquid into the brain but the gland itself is somehow both solid, shaped into a perfect sphere, and yet also gaseous. If we did not contain the glands in hermetically sealed units, they would lose their structure and disperse into the air."

"And what does that mean for Max?" Collins asked, hope obvious in his voice, though ignored by Ellis.

"A pocket of this gas has formed into his mind, but it is like a soap bubble. Empty and from what we can see, very unstable, but the fact it is there, unlike all the others we have processed… "

"So you believe he might recover?" Collins repeated.

"Well there is hope. The empty gland's presence offers us hope that possibly we have found someone able to regenerate their lost powers after our invasive operation. And the readings we have been receiving… speaking about that" Ellis said before getting off his seat and returning to his desk, quickly typing out a few commands on his computer.

"You wanted to know why I had you here for our meeting whilst I had Max present, correct?" Ellis asked.

"Yes, I was wondering if we would return to that, though I assumed it was to tell me the news on the gland." Collins questioned.

Ellis just shrugged. "There was no reason for you to know all this. But it did give me an excuse to test something… which appears to have paid off I believe" and with that Ellis turned the monitor to his computer around to face Collins.

On the screen seemed to be a 3D model of a Lagomorph's brain. Collins, seeing the name in the corner, saw that it was some readout for the mental activity for Max's mind.

"This is his current activity" Ellis said, indicating the model.

"I can see some activity" Collins said, noting the odd red splotches on various parts of the brain slowly pulsate.

"That is correct. Nowhere near the activity of someone like me or you, which would have red flashing areas all over the mind, flaring up all over the place, but certainly more than any of the other cadets we have processed. But look here." Ellis said, typing in a quick command and watching the screen with Collins.

What followed was a serious of red flashes flaring up all over the mind. Nothing dazzling but certainly more active than the previous screen showed.

"This is a sped up video of Max's mental activity during our meeting. Specifically during the time we spoke about Max and yourself… He's subconsciously responding to us."

"He can understand us?" Collins said, once again looked over at the 3rd silent person in the room.

"Understand is a strong term. I would say there is association of some kind, with the words we use and something in his mind able to cobble together some meaning. He definitely responds to the word Max… see?" Collins said, going back to the live feed and showing the quick flare.

"So… what does this mean?" Collins said, again unable to hide the tone of hope in his voice.

"It means we might have a renewable source of Beads we can harvest" Ellis said simply.

Collins only stared at Ellis, mouth open.

"You would… you would just operate on him… again?" he asked, outraged.

"Does his recovery change anything? His powers will still be of more use and able to do more good in our equipment then in the cadets hands. That formula is still the same. Even if Max can provide us with a continuous source of power, it is not unlimited. We will still need to harvest from him… and the others we find of his level."

Collins just shook his head, looking lost. "When will this end?"

"When our species is not at war Sergeant. And considering how long this war with the Khail has been going on for, it looks to end no time soon"

Collin stood silently in his chair, looking from the doctor and back to Max. A look of revulsion passed over his mostly hidden features as he turned back to Ellis.

"You truly are heartless"

Ellis just shook his head at the comment. "No… just emotionless Collins. You are free to go" saying this as Collins was already out the door, slamming it on the way out.

Ellis, looking unperturbed at the outburst just looked back at Max, still not making intentional eye contact with anyone.

Seeming to come to a decision Ellis went back to his desk, sat down and took out a small PDA.

"Hello Walter" Ellis asked.

"Yes Doctor Ellis" Walter replied, an AI mirroring the doctors own voice, only adding a strange accent to the tone, making him sound more warm and welcoming.

"Please set aside two hours a day in my schedule please. Try to make the time consistent for each day"

"Yes sir. You have a free time slot in the evening, 5:30 to 7:30. What name would you like for your repeat appointment?" Walter asked pleasantly.

"Therapy with Max" Ellis said simply, staring off into the wall of his office, ignoring the younger Lagomorph still sitting and looking dead to the world. He was lost in his own thoughts, muttering about the advancements that could be made by being able to see and properly record a gland being developed from nothing. Such data had proven impossible to gain as the gift for Lagomorphs seemed to hold no noticeable pattern. It was not genetic or hereditary in any way. It just seemed to pop up in random people throughout the species.

"To be able to see a Gland grow… we might finally find the clue in creating our own synthetic Beads… who knows" Collins said idly.

And so he kept pondering, so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't notice Max, whilst has back was turned, slowly stand up, look around the room with the same vacant stare he had throughout the meeting, spotting the paper weight on the desk and simply taking it.

He was already sat down, weight in his grip before the doctor turned around, still staring blankly ahead.


	36. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

"I must say, I do find it strange" Doctor Ellis said idly as he took out his lighter and lit another cigarette. "how easy I find it to speak openly with you, Max"

As if to respond, Max, sitting slumped on his bed inside the room the doctors had left him in since his operation, let a single droplet of drool fall gracelessly onto his drooping arm.

Ellis, ignoring this lack of response, continued on. "I usually find it awkward dealing with people, whether it be my colleagues or superiors, but especially children." He said in his monotone voice, taking a quick tug of his cigarette. "I never know what to say, and find it so hard to read their expressions. Everyone who works with me knows this but, do you know why I act the way I do Max?"

Again, there was no visible response to be shown on Max's face, still slack and only seeming to show something close to weariness. However Ellis knew better, his eyes not on Max but on the screen he held on his lap, showing a direct feed of the activity in Max's brain wave activity as he tried to engage with him.

This was the third session since their last talk earlier in the week in his office and Ellis was beginning to gather Max's current mental levels as he continued his one sided conversation.

"You see I have been working with gifted individuals for many years now. It was my main field of study when deciding upon my thesis. It fascinated me, how some random members of our species could exhibit such amazing abilities. At the time, I was quite enamoured with the subject." Again Ellis taking his time with his words, speaking slowly as to give Max the best chance on comprehending every part of what he said.

Taking another tug at his cigarette Ellis went on. "The military were also interested in the subject so after working with a couple open minded generals, I got a division and budget to take in known gifted Lagomorphs, as volunteers and work with them to understand what their limits were and what they could do for the war effort."

"There were many who came in, most not having the gift and those few that did were hardly able to bend a table spoon or pickup on the most explicit thoughts projected by our staff. But there was one who shone above all the rest. One we later categorised as a Zero level psychic."

Ellis turned to the screen, noting some flare of activity upon hearing the word "zero". "Yes. I bet you didn't know the cadets we have upstairs are given levels on their abilities, from 10-1, with 1 being the highest. Highest except for the rare gem we would find, like yourself. Level Zero cadets whose powers were on a whole other scale entirely… anyway, I am side tracking. Back to my original project"

"This first zero level volunteer put all our theories in the fire. He exhibited abilities that outperformed what a hundred of the other volunteers could do. Whilst the others were struggling to lift empty chairs, he would be in the middle of the hall with multiple army vehicles orbiting around him. He was truly amazing… and as it turned out" Ellis added, as if mentioning a small, unimportant point hardly worth mentioning, "…mentally unstable"

Nothing akin to pain or regret passed over Ellis' face, despite the statement suggesting there should be. He just kept on speaking with no apparent care on the topic. "At least that is what people believed, after the disaster. Despite what everyone believed, it was not him or his powers who turned out to be the cause said disaster, but another volunteer. Someone we gathered, from the personality reports we had on each volunteer, was jealous of this others powers. From readings we recovered it seems as though this lower level person, whose name escapes me, thought he could take over the mind of the zero cadet… well, whatever happened inside their minds left volunteer zero somewhat broken. In what seemed like a fit of rage he unleashed wave of pure psionic power… a wave which caught five people. Himself, the person we believe who instigated the fight, two other doctors… and myself."

Ellis let out a sigh as he finished off his cigarette, which was quickly replaced. "I was the only survivor. The other four were, for lack of a better word, fried in the psychic explosion. I was only caught by the edge of the wave. But that contact did affect me greatly, if not physically. Since that day, all form of emotion were gone. I could no longer empathize with my friends or family. Got no joy in my previous hobbies or vices. Even my need to smoke is not one I do for enjoyment but a simple biological craving. Since then, I have been left in a state akin to a low level computer systems AI, unable to even simulate emotions."

Tapping on his tablet, Max temporarily forgotten to Ellis, he continued "It is a disability. One that has heavily affected how I live my life… but like any disability, it is one I have attempted to overcome. In my case, I have tried to compensate my lack of empathy with my logic and reasoning skills. So, weeks after the incident, the program shut down and myself stuck in a hospital bed, I decided on what I needed to achieve with myself. My end goal as it were. I needed a task which even in my emotionless state, could consider to be for the best of as many people as possible. So I decided. To take what I knew on Lagomorph Psychic potential and what I could find out through future study and work out a way to best serve the war effort."

"I knew those gifted could help, if trained, but there was also the danger they could cause for our own people, if such an incident that happened to me happened in the field… I took all this into account. And then, upon discovering the biological reason for the powers to manifest, and some experimentation, I worked out, for lack of a better word, an algorithm. A algorithm which would take into account what fully trained Lagomorphs could hypothetically do… what fully trained zero level Lagomorphs could offer. The risks, the potential rewards… and I worked out simply that though the Lagomorphs whose abilities ranged between 10-1 could be used for best effect in the field covertly, the powers of those with zero level were a different matter."

Ellis for once turned directly to Max, hoping to gain some visible single from the young Lagomorph. "You see Max, take ten random cadets such as yourself. Assume after a number of years training in both psionic and military discipline you have 10 able bodied but probably average capable soldiers. You cannot expect the best qualities we all hope to see in our fighting men and women to appear in any noticeable degree in these 10 random warriors, no matter the quality in training… and these warriors would have the main role, considering their abilities, to act as heavy fire power…"

As if pausing for emphasis, Ellis continued "… but this was fine. They would, all things taken into account, be a heavy and valuable asset to the war effort. But then, after running through some simulations, I would that there might be another way? A way to weaponize what these cadets have into a weapon. A handheld firearm, one which can be renewed and handed out to the VERY best soldiers we have at our disposal. Those at the very top ranks who operate out in the field, such as the Thirteen… those able to make the very best use out of such easy to operate armaments…"

Ellis looked unapologetically to Max, still waiting for some flinch or twitch to indicate understanding. "this discovery is what lead me to create the algorithm. To way the benefits on creating Zero Cadet soldiers to simply harvesting their abilities… The numbers showed it clearly, the benefits outweighed the negatives, even for what I could consider moral negatives. So with my formula I went to one of the more radical generals I had been in contact with for my experiments, explained my plans in detail… and here we are" He said, indicating the facility.

"The general in question I already knew by reputation to be quite ruthless with his approach to strategy and planning. A number of bloody but successful campaigns had been attributed to him. And after explaining my theory and showing him the estimated firepower for one of the weapons compared to what a fully trained Zero Cadet could hypothetically manage… it was almost too easy. He gave me an unlimited budget, a number of sergeants who could be trusted with such a project and since then we have been shipping out either soldiers with varying degrees of psychic abilities or weapons capable of mass destruction…"

A pause descended between the two, Ellis busy reading through his results on Max's scans and Max… well, just staring vacantly as he had been since before Ellis arrived.

It was a solid two minutes before Ellis nodded to himself and closed his tablet and sat up. "I believe the signs on you even partially recovering are good Max… I believe also I said earlier that I found it easier to speak to you as you now are. I don't believe I gave you a proper reason for that, did I."

Taking a few steps as if to leave Ellis paused at the room's door. "Speaking to people with my disability is most arduous. I find it nearly impossible to either understand how the person I am speaking to is feeling or make them in any way feel at ease around me. I try to smile when I say something I think might be funny or endearing but even from their body language I find it hard to see if such actions prove successful... though I have been told flatly that they usually don't, especially with children… but you Max. Talking to you I feel completely comfortable to just speak freely. I feel no need to guess what you are feeling or how I appear you… it is most relaxing"

And with that Doctor Ellis walked through the automatic door and left, leaving the room in near darkness.

…It was only then, with the doctor gone, that Max finally stirred.

This was what was wrong with Doctor Ellis' synopsis on Max's condition. He assumed with the data being received from Max and all the other patients that they all, after the procedure to remove their glands, were left for all intents and purposes, catatonic. Though they obviously took in information from their senses, as shown from scans, they didn't seem to be any apparent will or attention of any kind.

And this was, for the most part was correct. All the sights and sounds that Max took in through his eyes and ears were recorded but, from the perspective of Max, mostly ignored…

…mostly.

For if you were to give a description of Max's mental state as it was then, after his weeks' time to recover, it would not be thoughtless, but instead closer to animalistic. For in for what now passed as Max's mental awareness, his mind had degenerated from the deluge of thoughts and needs he usually had buzzing around his head to being focused on into a small set of objectives. Objectives that happened to be burned into him from the last desperate thoughts he had before the procedure left him in the state he now was. All that was left was the faint echo of a need to escape… and a need to get back Jacob's bead.

The reason and emotions behind these urges were gone, wiped clean and irrelevant to Max as he now was. He could not comprehend the urges he had, and even acting upon them was a slow and arduous activity. But through the sludge that were Max's thoughts, a set of tasks had finally taken shape, formed over long days sitting idly.

The thoughts were near childlike in their simplicity.

The first was, simply, to leave the room he was in.

Problem.

The door.

After moving around slowly when first taken to the room, he found the door wouldn't move. Admittedly Max was still operating at an extremely basic mental level. His mind couldn't take into account the basic concepts such as the door being locked. It was only after watching the doctor open and close over and over he was finally able to take on piece of information that he could absorb.

The person he was just with and the other people who came to visit him seemed to take a small flat thing like thing from their neck, place it on a spot to the left of the door, and then it would open.

This was the logic solving ability Max first had after three days left in his room, only able to understand something through repetition.

So, still forming ideas and concepts at a horrendously and simple and slow pace, Max was finally able to amend his plan of:

Open door…. Find bead… leave…

To adding another step to start with. He needed to take out one of the people who came into his room. And at the moment that seemed to be the person, whose named seemed irrelevant to Max, who just left. However, things had changed for Max, even if Ellis didn't know how. He had finally started to shift from learning through repetition, actual conceptual thinking. The ability to understand a situation, break it down into its key underlying points and create solutions for each one.

So now, standing inanely in his room, still staring off into space, Max tried, with the information he had, to create a solution. Tried to imagine some way of taking down someone who, as Max could see, was older and bigger then himself. He took this problem and broke it down, coming to the first part of the problem

What could he use to attack with.

In a slow careful stride, Max walked back to his bed and instead of sitting down again, went down on his knees and took something from beneath the mattress.

Max was just able to conjure up the memories of when he took the object. He couldn't remember a reason why he had done it, so possibly only impulse had been the root cause. Max thought about the time as he sat down on his bed, holding the small hexagonal weight.

After looking at the object for over a minute as thoughts formed and then melted away in his mind, Max came to what could be considered a decision and with abrupt violence, slammed the weight as hard as he could onto his other arm. Trying to make sure he hit with one of the edges, Max smashed the item down with all the force he could manage. And then he did it again. And again. Three times in total he took the weight and hit himself over and over in the same spot.

Then, discarding the weight Max looked down at the spot and waited, as if expecting something to happen. After a solid minutes waiting Max, in his own animalist logic, concluded he hadn't done any real damage to himself. He did not know that he had bruised himself badly, hitting an area which would leave an obvious mark later, but it would be irrelevant. Even in Max's logic he could see he had not done any real damage. Not enough to stop anyone he attacked with it.

So sitting back, ignoring the pain coming from the struck area, Max went back to thinking. He thought through what else he could do to someone larger then himself, if he attacked quickly. So, after another five minutes silence and stillness, he took his other, uninjured arm and placed part of it into his mouth, getting as good a grip as he could with his teeth. Once he had what he believed as much of the limb in his jaws, he bit down with as much pressure as he could.

Feeling his teeth dig into his own flesh, he could tell, in a far off way, that though his front two incisors, being longer and sharper than his others, was able to piece the skin. But the rest, all flat and edgeless, only left marks.

Taking his arm out of his jaws he wordlessly looked at the results. Again, not enough to cause any real harm, but more his previous attempt.

Marking down the result against the other self-made attack on his over arm, Max moved on…

It was an hour later after several quick but surprisingly viscous self-made attacks that Max was able to work out that between his arms, he legs, the object, and anything else in the room, the only thing able to do any real damage were his teeth. It was a detached form of self-abuse, going through his near barren mind a set of experiments tested with trial and error.

And with that discovery made, Max moved on. He had his weapon, but as it stood it wasn't ready for the other person. If he lunged and got his teeth around anything, chances were the person would be able to overpower him before he could do any real damage.

It was then, through the slow, simple series of thoughts and experiments, that an idea… a unique and original idea formed. Feeling his own teeth, noting the dullness of each of his limited weapons, Max needed to make an adjustment. And taking account of his resources and needs… the innovation on how to change dawned on him.

Idea still shining brightly in the void that was Max's mind, he carefully took the discarded weight, now an invaluable tool for his new task and positioned it carefully in his hand. Making sure he had a good solid grip on it, he took the metal block, opened his mouth and placed it carefully against one of his front incisors. Then, taking his hand back in a slow arm, he made his decision… and swung.

(CRACK)


End file.
